Nobu Waikiki announces its relocation to Ward Village

RENDERING COURTESY WARD VILLAGE

This rendering shows what Waiea’s street level will look like when the tower is completed in 2017.

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Plans to renovate the Waikiki Parc Hotel next year have prompted Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa to move his only eponymous restaurant on Oahu to a luxury condominium tower slated to be completed in late 2016.

The developer of the Waiea tower at Ward Village, Howard Hughes Corp., announced Thursday that Nobu Waikiki will relocate to the Kakaako property.

Hughes Corp. said the new Nobu restaurant on the ground floor of the 400-foot glass-sided tower will be about 10,000 square feet, including 2,000 square feet in an outdoor gardenlike setting.

David Weinreb, CEO of the Texas-based Hughes Corp., said having Matsuhisa at Waiea moves his development firm closer to its long-term goal of becoming the “new center” of Honolulu.

“At Ward Village, we are curating an unmatched mix of design, retail and food experiences with Nobu serving as a culinary anchor for our community,” he said in a statement.

Waiea is the first of what could be up to 22 residential towers with 4,300 units and about 1 million square feet of retail space in a 60-acre urban village that would replace the largely retail and industrial space previously known as Ward Centers.

Among Nobu’s new white-tablecloth neighbors in Ward Village will be Merriman’s, the fine-dining restaurant by Hawaii Regional Cuisine chef Peter Merriman. It is slated to open in the Anaha condominium in June 2017.

Matsuhisa has 32 restaurants around the world. He said in a statement, “Ward Village is creating a new community in the heart of Honolulu that is unlike anything that exists in Hawaii. The combination of world-class architecture, a walkable neighborhood and an authentic district of high quality shops, restaurants and entertainment offerings makes Ward Village a unique destination and the place to be in Honolulu.”

Nobu was in the news this week when the Nobu Hotel Manila hotel, developed by the chef, Hollywood actor Robert De Niro and other investors, was rated the Worst Luxury Hotel of 2015 by Luxury Travel Intelligence, a members-only travel organization for individuals of high net worth.