Oahu Industrial Land Prices Hitting High Marks

In late June, Pacific Business News reported on a couple impressive price PSF lands sales at Koa Ridge in Waipio and Kapolei Business Park West in West Oahu.

The Koa Ridge sales, 1.5 acres and 1.43 acres, respectively, hit the $85 psf listing mark, number seemingly more fitting for a core Honolulu location like Sand Island or Iwilei. Of interest to these Koa Ridge sales, both buyers are contractors re-locating from leasehold properties. After digging around on their current business locations, the first, Royal Contracting Co, is based out of Mapunapuna on presumably former Damon Estate land and the other, Paul’s Electrical Contracting, in Halawa Valley on land owned by Queen Emma Land Company. The allure of fee simple land won the day for both businesses. Rather than transition all the way to Kapolei, where more fee simple land can be found at cheaper prices along with a heavy dose of daily traffic, the buyers choose Waipio, a great Central Oahu location, closer to town and the sites of their current businesses.

The other big land sale of 10.55 acres in Kapolei Business Park West, just shy of $50 psf or $22.5mm, was notable for a property this size hitting such a high price PSF mark. As PBN highlighted in the article, the buyer is an investment group out of Wisconsin working on a long-term lease with Michels Corp, a Wisconsin-based infrastructure contractor. With 10.55 acres at play, Michels will likely not be the only tenant occupying this property once developed. Kapolei Business Park West continues to sell out quickly. Another notable land deal in the park is a 5.15 acre development by Avalon Development, one of the subdivision’s master land developers, who plans to build a 48-unit industrial condo project for small business use. This project alone is worthy of another post, stay tuned…