HONOLULU, WAIKIKI, OAHU - Leading the way in the renaissance of Waikiki, the highly anticipated Waikiki Beach WalkT is now open. The $535 million retail, entertainment, and hotel development is transforming nearly 8 acres of central Waikiki into a new and vibrant pedestrian-friendly gathering place. The entire complex will include five hotels offering nearly 2,000 rooms and suites, and 47 restaurant and retail tenants in 93,000 square feet of space.
Waikiki Beach Walk was master-planned and developed by Outrigger Enterprises Group, Hawaii's largest and best-known hospitality company. The development includes the newly-opened Embassy Suites®-Waikiki Beach WalkT and Wyndham Vacation Ownership Resort -Waikiki Beach Walk. The new district is also home to the Outrigger Reef on the Beach, currently undergoing an extensive $100 million repositioning; the OHANA Islander Waikiki, which is slated for a complete makeover beginning in 2007; and the new Trump International Hotel & Tower-Waikiki Beach Walk, scheduled for completion in 2009. The Trump property's recent condo unit sales of $700 million set the world record for single day sales.
A wide selection of restaurants, casual eateries, specialty shops and boutiques offering accessories, resort apparel, swimwear, gifts, art and jewelry has begun to open. Freaky Tiki Tropical Optical, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Beard Papa's Sweets Café, Coco Cove, Malibu Shirts, Tabora Gallery and Mondo Gelato were the first to open their doors. The next three months will see a flurry of openings, including Quiksilver, Crazy Shirts, Wyland Galleries, Folli Follie, Sunshine Swimwear, Maui Divers Jewelry, Na Hoku and Mana Hawaii-Spirit of Hawaii Nei, to name just a few. Among the restaurants set to open in the coming months are Roy's Waikiki, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Yard House, Giovanni Pastrami, , Holokai Grill, Kaiwa Japanese restaurant and Taormina Sicilian Cuisine.
"This is a very exciting time for our company, and for all of Waikiki," said David Carey, president and chief executive officer of Outrigger Enterprises Group. "The area where the new Waikiki Beach Walk now sits is where some of our first properties were built nearly 60 years ago. We are pleased to be able to breathe new life back into the area and to restore the lure of Waikiki as a favorite gathering place for island residents and visitors alike."
The inviting master-planned Waikiki Beach Walk district now will not only be recognized as a top shopping and dining destination, it will also feature island musicians and ongoing educational and cultural activities - including ukulele, hula and lei-making lessons, story telling, wood carving and local musical performances. Many of these events will take place at Waikiki Beach Walk's center stage, and will be a great opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves in Hawaii's unique local culture in a welcoming outdoor setting.
"We wanted to transform the existing congested mixture of storefronts, sidewalks and hotel lobbies into a more human-scale shopping and hotel district that lets all visitors know that they are indeed in Hawaii. Everything you see, smell, taste, touch and hear lets you know that you are experiencing the best of the islands," said Mel Kaneshige, executive vice president of Outrigger Enterprises Group.
After nearly 10 years of planning, the Waikiki Beach Walk development was announced in July of 2001 and began construction in April of 2005. The first phase of the project saw several older hotels - the Edgewater Lanais, the OHANA Coral Seas, and the OHANA Edgewater - come down to make way for the two-level retail/entertainment complex, designed as the centerpiece of the large open-air plaza, intended to capture the ambience of vintage Waikiki. Another part of the first phase was the transformation of the former OHANA Waikiki Village and OHANA Waikiki Towers into the all-new 421-suite Embassy Suites-Waikiki Beach Walk, and the redevelopment of the former OHANA Reef Towers into the new 195-room Wyndham Vacation Ownership Resort-Waikiki Beach Walk.
The second phase of Waikiki Beach Walk includes the new Trump International Hotel & Tower-Waikiki Beach Walk, located on the block bordered by Saratoga Road, Beach Walk, and Kalia Road, and the former home of the OHANA Reef Lanai Hotel, the OHANA Royal Islander Hotel, the Malihini Hotel and the Hale Pua Nui Apartments. The Trump property, consisting of 464 luxury hotel rooms and residential condominiums along with related commercial space, is being developed by Irongate Capital Partners and is scheduled for completion in mid-2009.
"Our company's founders, Roy and Estelle Kelley, helped the world see what a beautiful and romantic destination Waikiki was, and visitors from around the world today still come to Hawaii to experience that. Waikiki Beach Walk marks the beginning of an exciting new era for Waikiki, one that builds on our reputation as a world-class destination and, we hope, elevates it to new heights," Carey said.
A full list of Waikiki Beach Walk tenants is attached and can also be found at www.waikikibeachwalk.com .
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About Waikiki Beach WalkT
Waikiki Beach WalkT is the largest development project ever to be undertaken in Waikiki's history. The 7.9 acre area, bordered by Kalakaua Avenue, Lewers Street, Kalia Road, Beach Walk and Saratoga Road, has been completely rebuilt and has emerged as a vibrant showcase and gathering place in the new Waikiki. With a total construction cost of $535 million, it features an outdoor entertainment plaza, 41 new retailers, six great restaurants, and five hotels. Incorporating a design theme that celebrates Hawaii's voyaging and ocean heritage and that takes advantage of the island's cooling trade winds and year-round excellent weather, Waikiki Beach Walk is the consummate expression of Hawaii today -- a place where people come to be enlivened with warm hospitality, a rich confluence of cultures, and nature's precious gifts from land and sea. For more information, visit www.waikikibeachwalk.com.
About Outrigger Enterprises Group
Outrigger Enterprises Group is one of the largest and fastest-growing hospitality services companies in the Asia-Pacific region. Outrigger is a family-owned company with nearly 60 years of hospitality experience and runs a highly-successful, multi-branded line of hotels, condominiums and vacation resort properties, including Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, OHANA Hotels & Resorts, Outrigger Condominium Collection, Outrigger Resort Club by Fairfield and Embassy Suites®-Waikiki Beach WalkT.* Outrigger currently operates nearly 60 properties representing more than 12,000 guest rooms in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, Bali and Guam. Outrigger Enterprises Group also operates and develops hotel properties and hospitality-related retail and real estate opportunities for partners in Hawaii, the Pacific, the mainland USA and Asia. For on-line information, log on at www.outriggerenterprisesgroup.com and www.outrigger.com.
*Embassy Suites is a registered trade mark of Hilton Hotels Corporation.
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Waikiki Beach Walk Shopping Directory
Accessories
Hawaii Head 2 Toe
MP Collections
Freaky Tiki Tropical Optical
Apparel
Sunshine Swimwear
Oasis Lifestyle
Blue Ginger
Crazy Shirts
Quiksilver
Alter Ego
Malibu Shirts
Casual Dining
Mondo Gelato
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
Beard Papa's Sweets Cafe
Convenience
ABC Stores
Coco Cove
Gifts & Art
Mana Hawaii - Spirit of Hawaii Nei
Peter Lik Gallery
Under the Koa Tree
Welcome to the Islands
Wyland Gallery
Tabora Gallery
Health and Beauty
Waikiki Beach Beauty & Apothecary
Serenity Spa Hawaii
Jewelry
Island Pearls
Jewelry by Lei & Kea
King Jewelry
Prime Jewelry
Maui Divers Jewelry
Na Hoku
Folli Follie
Restaurants
Shore Bird Restaurant & Beach Bar
Taormina Sicilian Cuisine
The Ocean House Restaurant
Coconut Willy's Bar & Grill
Giovanni Pastrami
Holokai Grill
Kaiwa
Roy's Waikiki
Ruth's Chris Steak House
Yard House
Specialty Foods
Honolulu Cookie Company
Jamba Juice
Starbucks Coffee
Specialty Retail
Banana Wind
Virtual Turbulence
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Nancy Daniels, APR
Public Relations Manager
Outrigger Enterprises Group
2375 Kuhio Avenue
Honolulu HI 96815-2992
PH 808-921-6839
FX 808-921-6901
EM nancy.daniels@outrigger.com
www.outrigger.com / www.ohanahotels.com / www.embassysuiteswaikiki.com