Kamehameha Schools last week sold the land beneath an iconic Waikīkī hotel to Japanese investors. It was the second ground lease sale under a major resort this year.
KS sold the 10 acres beneath The Royal Hawaiian Resort Waikīkī earlier this month to the Japan-based Daisho Company.
The price? $510 million. And that was just for the land, not the hotel known as the Pink Palace of the Pacific.
Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts still owns the hotel and will continue to operate it as a Marriott Luxury Collection property under a long-term ground lease with Daisho.
The land beneath it is the second major land sale for Kamehameha Schools this year.
In September, the trust sold nearly 500 acres of land under the Four Seasons Hualālai on Hawaiʻi Island for $400 million.
The buyer there was a hui of investors that included billionaire Michael Dell, who has owned the resort for nearly two decades.
Kamehameha Schools says the Royal Hawaiian land sale brings the trust closer to fulfilling the goals of its strategic plan for 2030.
But the trust has also faced legal hurdles in recent years. That includes the settlement of a lawsuit over the Maui wildfires, and more recently, a challenge to its admissions policy.
Crystal Kauilani Rose, the chair of the Kamehameha Schools board of trustees, says it's an emotional decision to sell land because she says “all ʻāina is special.”
And she says Kamehameha Schools only sells after what she calls “much deep and agonizing consideration.”
