Honolulu Condos: Sales Restarting - Pacifica in Honolulu, Hawaii, formerly Moana Vista

Sales Restarting - Pacifica in Honolulu, Hawaii, formerly Moana Vista

Pacifica in Honolulu, Hawaii, formerly Moana Vista, set to restart sales

Sales for a Kakaako condominium project that stalled last year are set to resume next month as the new owner gets ready to restart construction.  Sales are expected to begin around January 15, 2010.

San Diego-based developer OliverMcMillan plans to give the first opportunity to buy to the 175 original buyers who had their purchase contracts canceled by the project's original developer, KC Rainbow II, in September.

Architects Hawaii, which designed the original building, will continue to work on the project, along with Baldridge and Associates and Lincolne Scott.

OliverMcMillan also brought on New York-based architecture firm Gensler to redesign the public and common element spaces and exterior of the building.

The redesign includes a large motor court entry and a wood and glass lobby space for residents facing the Waimanu Street side of the building.

The 15,000 square feet of retail space facing Kapiolani Boulevard has been redesigned with large glass windows. The exterior of the concrete building, which was originally designed to be painted white, will be painted shades of metallic blue and silver instead, Oliver said.

The recreation deck, which had been designed with only a swimming pool, will also have green space, a large gym, barbecue areas, two small movie theaters, and a party room - a total of 4,000 square feet of extra floor space the developer purchased from the HCDA.

The finishes inside the units will also be upgraded; the firm plans to donate bathroom tile and fixtures and other materials that were already purchased to local charities.

OliverMcMillan is spending about $5 million for the additional amenities, and $1 million on the lobby but Oliver said the firm feels the additional design elements are worth the added expense.

The firm has also hired local interior design firm Philpotts & Associates, which will work with San Diego-based Jules Wilson ID on the interior spaces.

Oliver noted that the market was probably at its worst when the firm started looking at what he called a "broken real estate project" about nine months ago.

"We were able to see there was a viable business opportunity," he said. "We saw an opportunity to come in with some aloha spirit and solve some problems."

The company, which has promoted its development Managing Director Dan Nishikawa to run the Hawaii office, sees a future with urban mixed-use projects in Honolulu.

It has already had discussions with the Queen Emma Land Co., which is choosing a master developer for its International Marketplace redevelopment in Waikiki, and also with Kamehameha Schools, which plans to redevelop its Kakaako mauka land into an urban village.