Updates from Honolulu and Maui counties after close call with hurricane; Request to delay new bed and breakfasts on Oahu; Federal investigators resume corruption probe; Commercial real estate outlook
Updates from Honolulu and Maui counties after close call with hurricane
How do you spell relief? It is being able to bid aloha to Hurricane Douglas and mahalo for sparing us. We check in on the stand down on Oahu with Hiro Toiya, director of the City & County of Honolulu's Department of Emergency Management, and County of Maui Mayor Mike Victorino.
Request to delay new bed and breakfasts on Oahu
The City & County of Honolulu has been working to set up a program to allow new permits for bed and breakfast vacation rentals. It would be the first time since the late 1980s. Under a city timetable, it would be preparing to submit new rules for public review. But the COVID-19 concerns has city councilman Ron Menor, head of the zoning and planning committee, is calling for the postponement until next year.
Federal investigators resume corruption probe
COVID-19 shut things down for a bit. But prosecutors are back in town and recently called former police commissioner Max Sword before the grand jury. Civil Beat reporter Nick Grube gives us the latest. Click here to read his story at CivilBeat.org.
Commercial real estate outlook
No rose colored glasses for the long-term outlook on commercial real estate. We talked to Andrew Friedlander of Colliers International earlier this year, who cautioned not to be too optimistic about a quick turnaround. He said he was more a realist than a pessimist. While we have yet to see the full effecdts of the health and economic crisis, the headlines of growing retail bankruptcies as things stretch out signal tough times ahead.
