First homeowners begin moving into Kakaako tower

The “live” aspect of the live-work-play vision for Kakaako grew bigger Tuesday, as the first homeowners began moving into a tower contributing to residential growth in an area of urban Honolulu where industrial uses once dominated.

Keauhou Place, a 423-unit condominium tower, opened its doors to an initial batch of 57 homeowners who were scheduled to pick up their keys Tuesday.

Move-ins are slated to be complete by Thanksgiving at the nearly sold-out building on the corner of Pohukaina and South streets.

“I’m excited to move in,” said Jeff Iwashita, who has been living in his grandfather’s house in Moanalua after moving back to Hawaii in 2013 after spending 15 years in California. His California experience began with going away to college and led to work selling insurance.

Iwashita, 37, bought his two-bedroom unit about 30 months ago and also worked as a real estate agent with Locations selling units to others. “I saw it as a good opportunity,” he said. “I’ve seen the project come up from the ground.”

Included in a welcome package for new residents is a book explaining the history of Kakaako and how it has been targeted for a mix of residential and recreational uses that complement office buildings, retail shops, restaurants and other businesses in the area.

“What we’re trying to have happen in the district is this live-work-play (concept),” Jesse Souki, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, said during a blessing for Keauhou Place on Monday night.

HCDA is the state agency that has guided development in Kakaako over the last four decades, and Souki said Keauhou Place is a great example of the vision realized because it is connected to a pedestrian plaza that soon will be lined with restaurants and shops, including a Down to Earth Organic and Natural grocery store, Real a Gastropub, Sweat + Soul, Ya-Ya’s and Tea Time. A city rail station also is slated to be built next to the tower.

“This is very exciting,” Souki said.

Local developer Stanford Carr built Keauhou Place on what long had been a paved parking lot owned by Kamehameha Schools. The project, which spent two years under construction and is also connected to a 209-unit midrise rental apartment building called Keauhou Lane, reserved for moderate-income households, is part of a master plan by the trust to redevelop 29 acres in Kakaako with up to seven towers and 300,000 square feet of commercial space.

So far, Keauhou Place is the second tower finished in the master plan. Three other midrise residential buildings and the Salt at Our Kaka‘ako retail complex also are completed parts of the plan.

“It’s been a long haul,” said Carr, who first considered developing a tower on the site five years ago at the invitation of Kamehameha Schools.

Gov. David Ige, who also spoke at the Monday blessing, said Keauhou Lane is a great addition to the community and helps fill a need for housing that has been in short supply in recent years.

Unit prices in the tower ranged from $357,000 to $1.4 million. All but seven units have been sold.

Taryn Loo qualified to buy one of 85 units in the tower through a lottery reserved for local residents with moderate incomes. Loo, a 25-year-old real estate agent with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Advantage Realty, bought a two-bedroom unit with her brother, a database administrator, after he decided to become a first-time homeowner.

“I didn’t want to live by myself or buy (a home) by myself, so I convinced him to live with me,” Loo said of her brother, Kyle, 27. “We are super excited.”

In addition, Loo’s parents decided to buy their own unit in Keauhou Place after their kids got a unit in the lottery.

Loo’s parents received their keys Tuesday, while their children are scheduled to move in Nov. 2.