A $25 million penthouse is still available in the east tower of the Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikiki Beach tower, which broke ground Tuesday and is projected to open in 2017.
It’s one of only about 12 percent of the units that are left in what critics once viewed as a risky project because it utilized a tired section of the Kuhio Avenue corridor and required developer Irongate to go through an onerous development process.
The project’s staggering footprint and the 350-foot height and direction of the building required exemptions to Waikiki guidelines that protect views and limit heights. Several Waikiki residents from properties near the planned development also complained about the loss of their private views and raised concerns that the development would add to the neighborhood’s density and stress infrastructure and public safety resources.
However, complaints began to fade after July when the city Department of Planning and Permitting approved the plan with stipulations that the developer soften its Kuhio Avenue and Lauula Street facades and come up with a plan to mitigate the impact of exterior lighting on the neighborhood.
Proponents of the project now include Mayor Kirk Caldwell, who said it’s important to the overall revitalization of Waikiki and the state’s $14 billion visitor industry.
"When you attract a brand like this, we become competitive in another arena," Caldwell said at the groundbreaking.
Together with the project’s west tower, which broke ground in 2013 and is expected to open in the spring of 2016, this latest tower will improve the gateway to Waikiki and meet demand for more higher-end accommodations and retail in Waikiki, said Irongate founder Jason Grosfeld.
"These two projects will do a great thing for Kuhio Avenue by cleaning up a section that had become a problem," said Waikiki Improvement Association President Rick Egged. "The project will also improve areas that are owned by the city and create more green space for visitors and residents."
Buyers think so, too.
Lance Wilhelm, managing principal of Irongate, which also developed the Trump International Hotel Waikiki Beach Walk, said a combined 88 percent of both towers’ ocean-view units already have been scooped up by buyers primarily from Japan, the United States and other parts of Asia.
Remaining studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom residences are priced from $998,800 to $3.5 million with penthouse estates priced from $6.75 million to $25 million.
"Sales are still good and are progressing well enough to move into the next phase," Wilhelm said. "We’re planning to start construction on the second tower in a few weeks."
