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New $227M Hotel Project On Kauai, $31M Office Building in Kaimuki

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Significant new construction projects could bring the first new hotel to Kaua‘i in decades and a brand new building to the middle of Kaimuki on O‘ahu.

The Waialae Avenue building best known for its longtime tenant, a Goodwill store, has been a familiar Kaimuki landmark since it was built in 1950. The Goodwill store and donation center closed in March, but is expected to return as part of a major new building for the neighborhood.

Building owner The Omidyar Group has filed permits to tear down the existing building and replace it with a new $31 million, four-story office building, which will include ground-floor space for Goodwill and a restaurant.

Architecture firm G70 is designing the new building, called the Kaimuki Gateway Plaza. It will have enough room for as many as 200 office workers.

Meanwhile, Kaua‘i could see its first newly built hotel in more than 30 years.

A $227 million boutique hotel and spa is being developed by Kupono Capital on land acquired near Poipu Resort. Called The Ohia, the resort and wellness center will have 85 hotel rooms and 65 residences in its first 25-acre phase.

Construction is slated to begin as early as this fall for a potential opening in the fall of 2023. Another 150 residences could follow in a 17-acre second phase.

The project is occurring in an Opportunity Zone, which offers tax breaks to investors creating jobs in disadvantaged areas. Such zones were created by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, with state governors designating the zones most in need.

A. Kam Napier is the editor-in-chief of Pacific Business News.
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