A weak yen has kept many Japanese travelers away from Hawaiʻi in recent years. But some Japanese investors are taking a closer look at some investment opportunities in the state.
Last spring, an investor from Japan paid more than $10 million for a fourth parcel in Waikīkī, bringing him closer to owning a whole block.
It's one of several deals over the last year that add up to hundreds of millions of dollars involving Japanese investors. While the weak yen kept some investors away in past years, others are coming back to Hawaiʻi — but in a limited way.
The largest commercial real estate deal in the state last year was the sale of the land under The Royal Hawaiian to Japanese investors. Daisho Company paid $510 million for the 10 acres under the hotel — which is owned by another Japanese company, Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts.
The largest deal so far this year was Shoei Global's purchase of the land under the Bank of Hawaii Waikīkī Center. It paid $67 million. Shoei bought the building there in 2013, so now it owns the whole property in fee simple.
Smaller deals have also popped up over the past year. Japanese firm Biosystem Co. bought an apartment building in Makiki for $9 million from Honolulu developer MacNaughton. And Japanese engineering company ESC Pacific bought the Podmore building in downtown Honolulu for just under $3 million.
Despite those deals, some experts say there are factors driving investors away from Hawaiʻi.
Sal Miwa is president of business brokerage Miwa and Associates. He says that while investors may be looking to park their money outside Japan, he's seeing them gravitate to other U.S. markets. And they're looking to buy businesses, especially in manufacturing. And Hawaiʻi just doesn’t have a lot of that here.
