Denny’s to be built on ex-banker’s Waikiki corner

A new Denny’s eventually will open on land leased from retired First Hawaiian Bank CEO Don Horner at the corner of Kuhio and Kapahulu avenues in Waikiki.

The land “has been vacant for over 25 years,” Horner told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The only structure on the property is a chain-link fence.

Horner had been reviewing possible uses for the land for about a year and a half and had considered a mixed-use model given the property’s resort zoning, he said. But, given the population density in the area and the size of the property, the restaurant seemed to be “a good community asset,” he said.

The 5,000-square-foot, 200-seat restaurant will offer outdoor seating, which is unusual for the chain, as well as banquet seating for large groups. Additionally, the building’s design will echo “a Territorial-type building … not your traditional cookie-cutter Denny’s,” he said.

There is no parking requirement for ground-level commercial development in the Waikiki District, Horner said, but the restaurant will offer about a dozen parking stalls, as well as a drop-off area for “the elderly, handicapped, for baby luaus” and the like, he said.

While not a partner in the project, Horner has consulted the franchisee in the planning, which includes a locked surfboard rack area for employees and possibly patrons, as well as a bike rack that can be used by bicycle-riding customers or bike-share companies.

The California-based franchisee who will build the restaurant could not be reached, but is well versed in doing business in Hawaii as the operator of the Denny’s restaurants in Windward City Shopping Center in Kaneohe and on Kunia Road in Waipahu. He also operates multiple locations on the mainland, Horner said.

The restaurant is tentatively set to open in 2016.