34 condo sales help turn $5.7M profit for Hughes

STAR-ADVERTISER / 2016

Four of the five new Ward Village towers by developer Howard Hughes Corp. are still under construction, though demand is slowing in the luxury condo market. The Waiea tower, above, opened in November on the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Kamakee Street, though its construction continues, slated to finish by June.

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The developer of Ward Village announced Wednesday that it sold an additional 34 condominium units among five towers in the emerging Kakaako community during the first quarter.

Howard Hughes Corp. said sales are slowing in the luxury condo segment of the market.

“Absorption has slowed for condominium units priced over $2 million due to the increased supply of luxury product brought to market over the past several years,” Hughes Corp. CEO David Weinreb said in a letter to shareholders last month. “This will likely impact the design of future towers over the medium term.”

Hughes Corp. mentioned the Kakaako sales as part of a financial report that said the Texas-based company earned a $5.7 million profit in the January-March period compared with $143.8 million in the same quarter last year.

The year-earlier profit was driven by a $140 million property sale in New York City. Hughes Corp. also has development projects and commercial properties leased to tenants in other parts of the mainland.

In Honolulu, Hughes Corp. is selling units in five condo towers, four of which are under construction.

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One tower, Waiea, opened in November though some construction work has continued and is slated to be finished by June. The 174-unit tower has sold 163 units.

Another tower, Anaha, has sold 301 of 317 units and is scheduled to be finished by September.

At a tower called Ae‘o anchored by a Whole Foods Market, 289 of 466 units have been sold. Construction is projected to be done next year.

The fourth Hughes Corp. tower being built at Ward Village is Ke Kilohana, and 387 of 424 units have been sold. Construction is projected to be done in 2019.

Of the four towers, 1,140 units or about 83 percent of 1,381 units have been sold. Total revenue for these sales since 2014 has amounted to $1.4 billion.

Hughes Corp. also has been selling units in a fifth tower that is one of two planned towers called Ward Gateway, but sales are not yet being publicly disclosed. This tower is priced similarly to Waiea, where the average unit price was $3.6 million.