Grove Farm Land Corp. is listing its 22-year-old Kukui Grove Shopping Center, “exploring the possibility of selling it,” according to a press release sent to The Garden Island late Wednesday.
Proceeds from the sale would go towards “paying down mortgage debt on the books when Steve Case purchased Grove Farm in December 2001,” according to the company.
Case has invested in upgrading the shopping center, constructing an additional eight holes of golf to complete the Puakea Golf Course and beginning construction of a water treatment plant for the joint use of Grove Farm and the County of Kaua‘i.
The listing is being made with Los Angeles-based Eastdil Realty Company, LLC “to find the right buyer at the right price,” said David Pratt, Grove Farm’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
“We are pleased with the rebirth of Kukui Grove Center and have accomplished what we set out to do,” Pratt said. “We now plan to find a purchaser with a good track record in retail ownership and management so that Kukui Grove will continue to be an asset for Kaua‘i residents, and will best serve their future needs.”
Eastdil has offices across the Mainland and in Hawai‘i.
“We want to focus Grove Farm on development of real estate and small business enterprises that will have long-term benefits to the community,” Pratt said.
The shopping center was developed by Grove Farm in 1982. A major renovation was made following the devastation of Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992. Some $15 million was spent on an upgrade in 2002-2004.
Spread over 35 acres, Kukui Grove is Kaua‘i’s only regional-size shopping mall. Anchor stores include Macy’s, Sears, Longs and Star Market.
For the past five years Kukui Grove has been managed by managed by CB Richard Ellis, a commercial real estate management company.
The company has reportedly leased all, or most, of the retail spaces in the center for 2005.
Grove Farm and its sister company, Lihue Land Company, together own about 40,000 acres on Kaua‘i.
