Market place makeover

Queen Emma Land Co., owner of the International Market Place in Waikiki, plans to remake the nostalgic 1950s outdoor bazaar into a 355,000-square-foot, open-air retail center on three levels.

The company filed an environmental impact statement preparation notice on Friday to move forward on the estimated $250-$300 million project.

The famous banyan tree at the heart of the market on Kalakaua Avenue and several other large canopy trees will be preserved, but few other details were released. Construction could begin as early as 2013, according to Queen’s Health Systems spokesman Cedric Yamanaka.

While Queen Emma said it is too early to tell what the retail mix will be, the redevelopment will displace, at least temporarily, about 150 merchants known for their imported aloha wear, handmade candles and inexpensive jewelry and trinkets.

Queen Emma said last year it had partnered with shopping center developer Taubman Centers Inc., known for its high-end retail projects, and real estate finance firm CoastWood Capital Group LLC to explore redeveloping the 4.5-acre site and the adjacent Waikiki Town Center, in front of Kuhio Avenue.

"Though we are still in the preliminary phases of determining the feasibility of redeveloping this iconic destination, we are excited to continue to move forward with this project," said Stephen Kieras, Taubman’s senior vice president of development, in a statement Friday.

The marketplace’s tenants have been notified about the progress of the redevelopment at a handful of meetings this week, Yamanaka said, adding that an actual environmental impact statement is expected to be filed within the month.

This is not the first time Queen Emma has announced plans to rebuild the International Market Place.

In 2003 Queen Emma had a plan to raze and rebuild the termite-damaged landmark in a design reminiscent to the original at an estimated cost of $100 million to $150 million, but abandoned the plan two years later because of financial restrictions.

Then in 2008 it revived revitalization plans and said it was seeking "the best and highest use" of the properties as part of its fiduciary duty to support the Queen’s Medical Center and Molokai General Hospital. It sought bids from developers to lease and redevelop most of Queen Emma’s Waikiki landholdings, including the kitschy marketplace, the Waikiki Town Center, Perry’s Smorgy restaurant, Food Pantry and the Miramar Hotel.

Those projects have not moved forward, and that has led some to question this latest plan.

Kantana Ouanesisouk, owner of the RK Jewelry Gift Shop, which opened in 1991 at the International Market Place, said she has been notified many times in the past of redevelopment but still is unclear about the fate of one of Waikiki’s last old-Hawaii destinations.

"I don’t know what I think because it’s been too long — even the outcome you don’t even know the kind of project they’re going to do," she said. "They already tell us when renovation happens, everybody has to be out. I’m worried little bit. I might have to look for a new location, who knows?"

Some visitors were disheartened by plans for redevelopment, saying it would change the flavor of the place.

"This is kind of quirky," said Brian Oswald, who is visiting the islands from Texas for the first time with his wife, Tina. "It’s just little shops right there, you kind of meander around, I like it. It has character. A mall is a mall — it’s sterile, it’s got the same stores and everything."

California resident Karen Irwin, 69, who has frequented the marketplace during her visits over the past 20 years, said, "I think you’re going to lose the international type of shopping that you have here. People, when they come to visit, they like this atmosphere. You’re going to put a big building here — no, not for Hawaii."

The marketplace was built in 1957 by Paul Trousdale, Clint Murchinson Jr. and Donn E.R.G. Beach on land leased from what was then Queen’s Hospital. Queen Emma has been contemplating redevelopment since it acquired the land in 1998 and watched competition boom from revitalized retail projects such as Waikiki Beach Walk and the Royal Hawaiian Center.

"It’s iconic — thousands of tourists a day visit the site in the hopes of finding their mementos and treasures of Hawaii. The redevelopment of the site has been eagerly anticipated," said Mike Hamasu, director of consulting and research at Colliers Monroe Friedlander Inc., which provides brokerage services for the industrial properties of Queen Emma but not the Waikiki assets. "The hope is that the developers that come in are familiar with the history of the site and are sensitive to the environment and the aesthetics of Waikiki in appealing to tourists and also maintaining value that is Hawaii."