A&B selling Maui Mall to mainland partnership

Alexander & Baldwin Inc., which is in the midst of a landmark deal to buy most of the retail property in Kailua, has reached an agreement to sell a shopping center on Maui that has been in its portfolio for more than 40 years.

Subsidiary A&B Properties Inc. said Friday it is selling Maui Mall for an undisclosed price to a partnership of Denver-based Alberta Development Partners and an affiliate of Chicago-based Walton Street Capital LLC. The mall, anchored by Whole Foods, Longs Drugs/CVS, Wallace Theaters and IHOP, was originally developed by A&B in 1971 and is 95 percent occupied.

"We were not actively seeking to sell the mall," A&B President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Benjamin said in a news release. "However, we like the fact that W-ADP (the partnership) brings a new source of investment to Maui, and based on W-ADP’s extensive experience and relationships in retail properties, we are confident that the mall will continue to thrive under their ownership."

A&B spokeswoman Suzy Hollinger said A&B will reinvest the proceeds into other commercial properties.

"It could include the Kailua deal," she said, adding that A&B won’t designate what the Maui Mall proceeds will be used for until after the sale closes early next year.

Under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, investors have 180 days to sell one property and exchange it for a similar one while deferring the taxes on the gains of the sale. This is known as a 1031 exchange. The new property must be equal to or greater in value than the original property.

A&B’s agreement to sell Maui Mall follows by two days the company’s announcement that it is purchasing nearly all the Oahu real estate owned by Kaneohe Ranch Co. and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation — roughly 650 acres — for $373 million. That transaction is expected to close late next month.

Benjamin said A&B remains strongly committed to Maui.

"We continue to look for new investments on Maui, and this past May we acquired the Napili Plaza, adding it to our portfolio of commercial property investments," he said. "Even after the sale of Maui Mall, we will remain one of Maui’s largest owners of commercial property, with nearly 370,000 square feet of retail, office and industrial space."

Benjamin said A&B is also investing in Maui through projects such as Maui Business Park II, the Wailea resort and the company’s ongoing investments in its HC&S sugar plantation.