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Highgate, a hotel management, investment and development company, will take over management of the Kaimana Beach Hotel this summer.
Highgate confirmed Wednesday that Highgate Hawaii has signed a hotel management agreement with the property’s owners Tsukada Global Holdings, led by Masayuki Tsukada; and an affiliate of BlackSand Capital, led by Chairman and CEO B.J. Kobayashi.
Tsukada Global Holdings and BlackSand Capital said in a statement, “The partnership between the esteemed hospitality partners looks forward to stewarding the continued success of the iconic Kaimana Beach Hotel.”
The hotel opened in 1963 at 2863 Kalakaua Ave. in the section of Waikiki known as the Gold Coast. The 125-room hotel is on Sans Souci Beach next to the Waikiki Natatorium.
A subsidiary of Tokyo-
based New Otani Co. in 2018 sold the then-leasehold
hotel for $23.9 million to
Honolulu-based BlackSand Capital and Tsukada Global Holdings of Japan. The new owners, who leased back the hotel to the New Otani Co. for two years, had previously acquired the land beneath the hotel.
The former New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel underwent reinvestment and reopened after a COVID-19 shutdown in December 2020 with a new name, Kaimana Beach Hotel, and more redesign under a new hotel management company, the Private Label Collection. Founded by Jonathan
McManus, the Private Label Collection is best known for its all-suite Hotel Wailea,
Relais &Chateaux on Maui.
Kelly Sanders, president of the Hawaii Group for Highgate, said the newest hotel management agreement was signed Saturday, and he expects that the property will transition to Highgate on July 8. Sanders said additional investment planned for the Kaimana Beach Hotel with include renovation of the rooms and reactivation of the second floor, which overlooks the ocean.
