The developer of Ward Village generated a $50.6 million profit in the second quarter with help from $86.5 million in revenue from two condominium towers being built at the envisioned residential community in Kakaako.
Texas-based Howard Hughes Corp. reported the financial results Monday and said the gain contrasted with a $14.7 million loss in the same three-month period ended June 30 last year.
Hughes Corp. said its development efforts at Ward Village, which include towers named Anaha and Waiea that are under construction along with two more towers where unit sales recently began, continue to be a highlight among several mainland real estate projects.
“The launch of presales in July of two new condominium towers totaling 591 units, and the 413 units under contract at the Anaha and Waiea towers under construction at Ward Village are indicative of the strong demand we are seeing for high-quality residential housing in our thoughtfully designed urban master planned community in Hawaii,” David Weinreb, company CEO, said in a statement.
Hughes Corp. said it added 15 more sales at the Anaha and Waiea towers between April 30 and July 24.
Sales for both towers began in early 2014. Through July 24, 81.7 percent of Anaha units (259 of 317) and 88.5 percent of Waiea units (154 of 174) have been sold.
Hughes Corp. collects deposits representing 20 percent of the purchase price on these sales, which translates to about $170 million in revenue. Of that amount, $86.5 million was recognized in the second quarter and was mainly from Anaha sales. Prior to the second quarter, Hughes Corp. did not recognize Anaha sales as revenue because tower construction had not yet reached a certain level of completion. As of June 30 the tower was about 14 percent complete. Waiea is about 29 percent complete.
Previously, Hughes Corp. noted profit from condo sale revenue, but did not for the second quarter. The company noted that it has spent about $58 million on the $401 million Anaha project. For Waiea, development costs through June 30 totaled $117 million on the $403 million tower.
During the second quarter Hughes Corp. began sales for two more Ward Village condo towers, Ae‘o and the first of two towers dubbed Gateway Towers. The developer said it has incurred $11.7 million in pre-development expenses for the 466-unit Ae‘o tower and $24 million for the 125-unit Gateway tower. Hughes Corp. did not disclose sales results for these towers, in part because a 30-day window in which buyers may cancel has not yet passed.
Hughes Corp. has one other tower permitted for development at Ward Village, a moderate-priced condo called 988 Halekauwila, where sales are projected to begin next year. The developer, which earlier this year unsuccessfully tried to obtain state approval to convert the project to a rental apartment building, said it has spent $6.7 million on 988 Halekauwila through June 30.
Up to 22 towers with 4,300 condo units are envisioned to be developed at Ward Village, a property covering 60 acres of mostly retail, industrial and office space formerly known as Ward Centers. About 1 million square feet of retail space is also part of the redevelopment plan.
Hughes Corp. acquired Ward Centers and the master plan in 2010 from General Growth Properties Inc. as part of a bankruptcy reorganization where General Growth transferred a group of properties outside its core collection of shopping centers to a group of investors who formed Hughes Corp. Other properties acquired by Hughes Corp. include master-planned communities such as Summerlin in Las Vegas and The Woodlands in Houston, as well as retail development projects such as South Street Seaport in Manhattan and Riverwalk Marketplace in New Orleans.
Total revenue for Hughes Corp. in the second quarter totaled $209 million.
Hughes Corp. said its $50.6 million profit included a $42.6 million noncash gain on rights by shareholders to acquire stock in the company and a $25.1 noncash loss related to depreciation and amortization expenses. Excluding the noncash items, net income would have been about $33 million.
Shares of Hughes Corp. stock closed Monday at $137.56 before the earnings announcement. Shares over the past 52 weeks have traded as high as $160 on Aug. 19 and as low as $115 on Jan. 15.