Michigan Developer Plans $100M Retail Site

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KAILUA-KONA, HI-Westwood Development Group of Michigan has acquired the 88,000-sf Lanihau Shopping Center and an adjacent 23-acre development site for a project that the development firm pegs at $100 million. Westwood acquired the property through a subsidiary, WDG Hawaii LLC, according to Michael Bowen, Westwood’s chairman and CEO.

Lanihau Center is anchored by Sack N Save (Foodland) and Longs Drugs. According to Bowen, Westwood’s development on the adjacent 23 acres will be Phase II of the center and will accommodate another 230,000 sf of retail, entertainment, and restaurant space. Negotiations are under way with numerous prospective tenants, many of which would be new to the market, he says.

Bowen notes that the center’s sales performance “is already exceptionally high,” and the company expects that it will improve with the addition of Phase II. The center benefits from its proximity to a cruise ship terminal, with 6,000 tourists per week passing through.

The center will be an open air lifestyle center with a mix of tenants for both the permanent population base and the tourism trade. The new Hawaiian project will become part of a Westwood Development Group portfolio that includes projects in Michigan, Kansas, Nebraska, California and Hawaii totaling two million sf.