California company buys Hawaii Kai mall

Kamehameha Schools has found a buyer for the Hawaii Kai Towne Center anchored by Costco.

The state’s largest private landowner announced Wednesday that California-based ValueRock Realty Partners has bought the island’s fourth-largest shopping center.

"The transition of Hawaii Kai Towne Center from a fully owned Kamehameha Schools property to one where KS retains the land but sells its improvements strengthens our perpetual endowment in support of our educational mission," L. Jack Wong, Kamehameha’s chief executive officer, said in a press release.

The 30-acre Hawaii Kai Towne Center includes two suburban office buildings, a self-storage facility, and a retail shopping and dining center.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Paul Quintiliani, formerly Kamehameha’s senior director of commercial real estate, is now working for ValueRock in Irvine.

"Over the years, ValueRock Realty Partners has been engaged in ownership and management of key Hawaii properties," David Lee, founder and chairman of ValueRock, said in the release.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to expand our presence here by adding Hawaii Kai Towne Center, a quality, mixed-use asset, to our portfolio."

Kamehameha Schools sold the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki in a similar ground-lease deal for $696.5 million earlier this year.

The trust created to educate Native Hawaiian children announced late last year that it was putting the center and Windward Mall in Kaneohe on the market, while holding onto the underlying land.

Kamehameha Schools bought the Hawaii Kai Towne Center from a successor to original Hawaii Kai developer Kaiser Hawaii Kai Development Co. for $69 million in two transactions in 1992 and 1993, according to property records.

Those purchases did not include the land, which it already owned. The development of Hawaii Kai Towne Center was completed in 1993.

Windward Mall, the third-largest shopping center on Oahu, is anchored by Macy’s, Sears and Sports Authority among its more than 110 stores and restaurants as well as a 10-screen movie theater.

No buyer has been selected for the 530,000-square-foot mall, which is still on the market, said Kamehameha spokesman Kekoa Paulsen.

Real estate experts have estimated the sale of two of Oahu’s largest shopping centers combined could fetch as much as $400 million.