By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Oahu’s third-largest hotel, the Hawaiian Regent at the diamondhead end of Waikiki, is for sale.
Otaka Inc., which owns the Regent in partnership with Toho Life Insurance, has retained local brokerage firm CB
Richard Ellis to list the about 1,300-room property that should hit the market in the next 45 to 60 days.
A CB Richard Ellis official confirmed the arrangement but declined to comment further. Otaka officials did not
respond to an inquiry.
“People are having to make some hard decisions,” said Murray Towill, president of the Hawaii Hotel Association.
“It’s indicative of the difficult times the industry has had.”
Industry experts expect the hotel to sell, but with difficulty because the ground lease with Queen Liliuokalani
Trust expires in 2043 and contains 10-year intervals where rent is renegotiated.
“The issue is going to be the lease,” said Douglas Pothul, senior vice president of Colliers Monroe Friedlander.
“You probably cut out 95 to 98 percent of your buyers just because it’s leasehold.”
Pothul, whose local brokerage firm is marketing the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel, which is also leasehold, said the
problem is underwriting financing for leasehold property.
However, he said, the Regent’s location overlooking Kalakaua Avenue and the beach is a plus, as is its size and
recent renovations.
Because Otaka manages the property itself, a new owner would be free to install a management company of its choice,
which is another asset, according to Pothul.
Otaka has been trying to divest its Hawaii assets, including the Hawaiian Waikiki Beach Hotel and the Kona Surf
Resort & Country Club. Toho filed for bankruptcy last year.
Only two hotels in Hawaii are larger than the Regent: the Sheraton Waikiki and Hilton Hawaiian Village.
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