Kakaako developer touts sales at next Ward Village tower

The next condominium tower expected to rise out of the ground at Ward Village in Kakaako is two-thirds sold.

Howard Hughes Corp., developer of Ward Village, disclosed in a financial report released Monday that buyers have signed sales contracts for 500 of the 751 units in its planned ‘A‘ali‘i tower since selling began in January.

The company previously had not publicly disclosed sales for the tower, which represents a new product at Ward Village. Many units at ‘A‘ali‘i feature small living spaces, with studios as small as 277 square feet priced around $500,000.

By comparison, the first three Ward Village towers — Waiea, Anaha and Ae‘o — featured bigger living spaces and average prices ranging from about $1 million to $3.6 million. A fourth tower, Ke Kilohana, is more moderately priced because of a state requirement to produce affordable housing. Of the four towers, Waiea and Anaha are finished, and the other two are in upper stages of construction. All four are nearly sold out.

David Weinreb, CEO of Texas-based Hughes Corp., called the pace of sales at ‘A‘ali‘i “incredible” in a statement.

“These results validate the strong demand for innovative residential product in Honolulu,” he said.

Hughes Corp. has described ‘A‘ali‘i as being efficiently designed for “smarter living” — meaning making better use of a smaller home. Features in the planned tower include floor-to-ceiling cabinetry extending up to 9 feet, and a wall bed that pulls down to cover a small couch. Refrigerators in studio kitchens are just 24 inches wide. To make moving in easier, Hughes Corp. offers to sell furnishings and household goods as a package — about 60 items from cookware to linens — for “turn key” living.

The developer wants to start construction on ‘A‘ali‘i this year, and hopes to get an approval later this week to build another, similar tower.

A state agency regulating development in Kakaako, the Hawaii Community Development Authority, is considering a development permit for a 570-unit tower called Ko‘ula that Hughes Corp. previously said would be similar to ‘A‘ali‘i.

During the three months ended June 30, Hughes Corp. reported taking in $20.1 million in revenue from condos sold and delivered to buyers at Ward Village. That revenue reflected about five units at Waiea and Anaha. A year earlier the company claimed $148 million in revenue from Ward Village condo sales, but that was under a different accounting method that allowed Hughes Corp. to claim revenue on pending sales in towers still under construction. That accounting practice was prohibited at the end of last year.

Total revenue in the second quarter was $181 million, down from $309 million a year earlier, for Hughes Corp., which has a variety of real estate endeavors in about 15 states that include operating retail centers, redeveloping a waterfront in New York City and selling land in master-planned communities.

Hughes Corp. earnings in the second quarter swung to a $5.9 million loss from a $3.1 million profit a year earlier largely because of the accounting practice change, the company said.