Three major office buildings have been put on the market by their Hawaii-based owner. It the sales go through, it could shake up the city’s office market. Pacific Business News Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier has more.
Whenever a real estate deal becomes newsworthy it’s for one of two reasons: the owner is significant, or the properties are. In this case, both are at play.
The three office buildings put on the market recently were waterfront plaza; the Pan Am building right next to HPR studios; and the Davies Pacific Center downtown. Combined they are offer 1.1-million square feet of leasable space.
The seller is noteworthy, too. The buildings are currently owned by Pacific Office Properties Trust. Granted, that’s not a household name, but the majority shareholder of Pacific Office Properties is Jay Shidler, the real estate investor who has pledged so much support for the University of Hawai‘i College of Business that the college is now named after him.
Pacific Office Properties also owns property in Arizona and California.
One reason this is all noteworthy is that Pacific Office Properties and another commercial landlord, Douglas Emmett INC., own nearly half of Honolulu’s Class A office space. Few cities in the nation have a commercial real estate concentration like this. If Pacific Office Properties’ holdings were to be picked by Douglas Emmett, that company would command the market.
