The former home of "MTV Real World: Hawaii" is empty, having been vacated by financial services company Capital One.
The Capital One 360 Cafe closed Friday, leaving many small groups without a meeting place, and to brazenly invoke the name of pitchman Samuel L. Jackson in this space, leaving Capital One with a little less in its "wallet" of physical locations.
Organizations including Social Media Club Hawaii had gatherings there, dating back to when the space was called the ING Direct Cafe, prior to Capital One’s purchase of ING Direct in 2012.
The building was leased, according to Capital One spokeswoman Julie Rakes.
"We informed cafe customers in early June that Capital One 360 made the decision to close this cafe location," she said via email.
"This decision was made as a part of a regular business review conducted to ensure we are operating efficiently while continuing to provide quality services and products to our customers."
Capital One still operates eight cafe locations on the mainland.
While the Waikiki location and its ATM have ceased operations, "customers will still be able to bank with Capital One 360 through ATMs, deposit checks via the CheckMate remote deposit capture tool, and by mail," Rakes said. The company has six additional ATMs in Hawaii, which can be found using the Capital One mobile app or via Allpointnetwork.com.
Rakes did not have a Hawaii employee count, but said "associates are eligible to post for other Capital One roles in which they are interested" and "may be eligible for relocation assistance."
Otherwise, employees are eligible for free career counseling, job placement help and a severance package, she said.
The building gained fame initially as the stand-alone Local Motion store, and from the second floor, the antics of the cast of "MTV Real World: Hawaii" were cable-cast to the world in 1999. The cafe and performance space was run by the cast, which was responsible for booking acts and promoting performances.
The upstairs space also was the venue for one of comedian Andy Bumatai’s TV shows.
Local Motion put its flagship location on the market in September 2006 for $16.8 million.
Brew Moon briefly occupied the second-floor space, prior to ING Direct’s expansion to Hawaii at the spot in 2008.
At the time ING Direct leased the former Local Motion building, ING CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann explained that "Hawaii was home for many years and the warmth and culture of the people of Hawaii have remained in my heart."
The nonprofit Friends of Hokule‘a and Hawai‘iloa loaned a koa canoe to display outside ING Direct and hosted an educational program at the cafe after its opening.
Property records show that the owner is California-based American Commercial Equities, that the land measures 44,871 square feet, and that the building is 9,744 square feet.
The property is listed for sale at $31 million on a popular commercial real estate website.
American Commercial Equities had acquired the property around 2007 intending "to develop more retail, and then the market went into the tank," said Fred Noa, principal and co-founder of Blue Rock Partners LLC, which manages the California company’s real estate holdings in Hawaii.
Since the economic recovery, and given the plans for the former International Market Place, the decision was made to sell.
Blue Rock is not seeking a specific type of buyer, he said, but added it is likely going to be a "buyer that’s going to tear down the Capital One building." It was built in 1998.
The property is "zoned such that you can do some hotel, condominiums … and there’s a shortage of health care and assisted living. There are all kinds of opportunities for this property," Noa said.
"There’s the possibility of creating density here."
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.