Don Quijote has ridden to the rescue of a Honolulu company that was in danger of being crushed by debt.
Don Quijote (USA) Co. Ltd., an affiliate of the Japanese company that owns the three Don Quijote retail stores on Oahu, has loaned $280.5 million to Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc., the owner of three Honolulu office towers that was in danger of defaulting on about $300 million of debt.
In addition, Don Quijote agreed to buy one of three buildings owned by Pacific Office — the Pan Am Building at 1600 Kapiolani Blvd. — for $78.5 million.
Pacific Office disclosed the sale agreement and loan in a third-quarter financial report filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The deal averted a default that could have led to foreclosure for financially struggling Pacific Office.
A $60 million mortgage on the Pan Am Building matured on Thursday, which was the same day the new Don Quijote loans were made.
Proceeds from the new loans paid off $266 million in loans secured by the Pan Am Building, Waterfront Plaza and Davies Pacific Center.
Waterfront had a $111 million mortgage maturing Sept. 11 while Davies had a $95 million mortgage maturing Nov. 11. Pacific Office also has a $25 million debt with First Hawaiian Bank that matures in December.
Pacific Office officials were not available for immediate comment on Friday.
Because selling the Pan Am Building before 2018 would have a negative
impact on Pacific Office’s founder and largest shareholder, Jay Shidler, completion of the sale is scheduled for between April 2018 and August 2018, the company said in the filing.
The new loan extends the life of Pacific Office, which has had a difficult time since it was founded in 2008 by Shidler, a local real estate investor.
Shidler formed the company by contributing buildings he owned while also selling public stock to finance a plan to acquire other office buildings in Hawaii and on the mainland.
However, the timing of Pacific Office coincided with the U.S. economic recession. As a result, the effort to expand the company’s portfolio, which at its peak included 24 properties, failed in part because of difficulty selling new stock. Instead of growing, Pacific Office gradually sold or lost most of its buildings to foreclosure as it dealt with repeated financial losses in recent years.
In addition to the three Honolulu office towers, Pacific Office owns 5 percent stakes in a building at 1833 Kalakaua Ave. in Waikiki and a building in Phoenix.
In the third quarter,
Pacific Office reported a
$3 million loss, down from a
$4 million loss in the same quarter last year.
Shares of Pacific Office stock, which trades over the counter and hit the market at about $7 in 2008, closed on Friday at 36 cents before the earnings report was filed. Shares in the past 52 weeks hit a high of $1.75 on Jan. 20 about a week after the company announced an effort to find equity investors through a broker. The low was 16 cents on April 18.