Downtown Rising

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That’s how Charles Dickens described London and Paris in the 18th century. London was peaceful and prosperous, Paris full of delinquency and poverty.

Those who keep up with the local news may feel like Dickens’ famous opening line sums up downtown Honolulu in recent years.

On one hand are stories of crime, homelessness and attrition. On the other are signs of an impending transformation heralded by new eateries, office-to-condo conversions and, soon, the arrival of a Skyline rail station.

Of course, downtown Honolulu isn’t on the brink of a revolution as described in A Tale of Two Cities. But it might be on the cusp of a renaissance.

That’s what the executive team at Avalon Group believes, and they’ve invested millions in the business district, which they are rebranding as “DoHo.”

“If you’ve never been downtown since the pandemic, all you’re doing is reading headlines (about crime) and going, ‘Oh my God!’” says Avalon CEO Christine Camp. “But that’s not the whole picture.”

In January 2023, Avalon Group purchased the Davies Pacific Center for $96 million with plans to turn it into a mixed-use property with apartments, offices and retail space. In February 2024, it bought the former WalMart building for $38 million and converted it into Pickles at Forté — two floors of pickleball courts open from 6 a.m. to midnight — with plans to possibly add a residential high rise. And, earlier this year, it closed on a $105 million deal for the Topa Financial Center.

It also completed Hawai‘i Pacific University’s Downtown Science Laboratories, which is next door to Pickles at Forté; Camp believes the school is important to the revitalization of the district, so Avalon Group stepped in when the previous developer was unable to complete the project.

But Avalon Group isn’t alone. The AC Hotel Honolulu opened in the former Remington College space in 2023. The hotel is also home to a lounge-style restaurant called The Dotted Line, a trendy bar called Yours Truly and coffee shop called Common Ground.

Last year, popular Korean bakery chain Paris Baguette opened its first Hawai‘i location on Bishop Street.

And last month, customers flocked to the grand opening of CU Korean Convenience Store in the Executive Centre (where Longs Drugs used to be).

Camp estimates that with these and other “quiet” developments taken into consideration, nearly $2 billion is being invested in downtown.

To understand why, you have to look to 2031. That’s when phase three of the Skyline rail project is scheduled to connect the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport to Chinatown, downtown and Kaka‘ako.

“It’s going to be the busiest part of the rail route,” Camp says. “Visitors are going to come here because we’re going to have hotels and people can go bar-hopping. Folks who live in Kaka‘ako can come back and forth (between there and downtown/Chinatown).”

When she looks to the future, she sees a DoHo that is open 24/7, not closed by 5 p.m. She sees bright signs, murals, artist collaborations, shops, music venues — even a comedy club. And a rail station at Nimitz Highway and Bishop Street — which happens to be where the Topa Financial Center is.

Helping Camp bring DoHo to life are her executive team at Avalon Group — chief financial officer/chief investment officer Ben Dookchitra, chief development officer and in-house counsel Robby Kelley, and chief administrative officer Laurie Ann Chan.

“Ben’s the one who said we should be bold and buy Davies Pacific,” Camp says. “He’s the one that allowed us to dream big and then from there we said, ‘OK, we should control the center of downtown by not allowing (the former WalMart space) to be storage, so we bought that property next.”

As for the idea to convert it to pickleball courts, she says Kelley came up with it during a brainstorming session.

“The idea is to eventually take the streetfront areas along King Street and Fort Street Mall and create small shops and restaurants,” she says. “We’re negotiating with several tenants right now, but we opened the pickleball this year because we knew that for any larger developments, it would take time to get the design and permitting done.

“Pickleball was something we could come in and open very quickly and have an immediate positive impact on the community and just bring life to the area.”

Adds Dookchitra, “There are people booking courts from 6 a.m. to midnight. It’s huge and (eventually) we want them to be able to go to a bar or restaurant after they finish playing.”

Dookchitra, who was raised in New Jersey and has a background in urban planning and real estate finance and investment, took part in the effort to rebuild the World Trade Center site following the 9/11 attacks. He says downtown Honolulu today reminds him of Brooklyn a few years ago and has all of the seeds needed to bloom into a hip urban oasis.

“Sometimes you take for granted what’s already here but there’s a ton of restaurants, for example Senia and Fete and Podmore,” he says. “These are nationally known or internationally known restaurants that are also local favorites.”

Another way the team is championing a downtown renewal is by supporting Activate DoHo, a nonprofit chaired by Avalon Group project analyst Westley Starnes. Activate DoHo launched the DoHo Run Club, which meets every Thursday at Robert Wilcox Mini Park, and the DoHo Yoga Club, which meets Mondays on Topa Financial Center’s rooftop garden. Its latest initiative, the DoHo Night Market, debuted Nov. 14 on Fort Street Mall. Camp estimates that more than 8,000 folks showed up.

The night market was made possible thanks to a resolution passed by the Honolulu City Council that lifts some restrictions on outdoor dining, sidewalk sales and similar events in the area. Now folks may also ride their bikes and walk their dogs on Fort Street Mall.

But perhaps the biggest boost to the area was the recent creation of a Downtown Honolulu Business Improvement District, similar to the one in Waikīkī. The Downtown Honolulu BID expanded the existing Fort Street Mall Special Improvement District to include Nu‘uanu Avenue to Richards Street, and Nimitz Highway to Beretania Street, and will be funded through special assessments on non-residential property owners in the area.

“The whole idea of the BID was for safety and cleanliness,” Camp says, pointing out that it will provide for regular cleaning, coordinated safety outreach, improved lighting and programs that encourage foot traffic.

Camp was there when Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi signed Bill 51 into law in October, making the BID official. Blangiardi thanked city Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam for introducing the measure.

At the time, Camp said, “We just proved we can have an amazing partnership with the government, with committed leaders who care deeply about downtown.”

While she is encouraged to see the city stepping up, she has also acknowledged the state Legislature laid the groundwork when it passed Act 37, which Gov. Josh Green signed into law last year. Act 37 allows housing to be built in commercial zones and encourages adaptive re-use — the conversion of office space into condos to address the state’s housing shortage. She says that’s what Avalon Group is doing in Davies Pacific Center and hopes to do in Topa Financial Center.

“If there is to be development, we should be supporting adaptive re-use and the development of areas that are already urban,” Camp says. “(The) DoHo revitalization is exactly that kind of development. The downtown neighborhood board has been very much in support of our activities and our projects, (as are) the existing business and residential community. They want us to do it a lot faster than we can due to permitting (and)  historic and archeological challenges. But we are committed and moving forward.”