CBRE Arranges Sale of Landmark Office Building in Honolulu

CBRE brokered the sale of Davies Pacific Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, a 380,462-sq.-ft. multi-tenant office tower and one of Hawaii’s most recognizable buildings in the downtown skyline.

Davies Pacific Center is one of the largest class-A office properties in Honolulu, and one of the only to be available for sale in nearly 20 years. This sale also represents the only Class A office tower in Downtown to have sold in more than 10 years.

Matt Bittick and Serena Longo of CBRE’s Capital Markets Group represented the seller, The Shidler Group. The buyer is Avalon Group, a vertically integrated real estate development, management, and investment firm focused on Hawaii. Greg Grant of CBRE’s Debt & Structured Finance Group facilitated the acquisition financing on behalf of Avalon Group.

“Davies Pacific Center, an iconic asset in downtown Honolulu’s business and financial district, drew significant interest from domestic, foreign, private and institutional capital in the acquisition opportunity,” said Matt Bittick, Senior Vice President with CBRE. “We’re excited to see Avalon’s vision for the property become a reality.”

Located at 841 Bishop Street in the heart of the Bishop Street Corridor and the city’s Central Business District, the landmark 22-story office building sits on a full 1.4-acre city block and has views of the Honolulu Harbor and downtown skyline. Originally built in 1972, the property was renovated in 2006 and again in 2021.

Avalon, which has developed and managed over $1 billion of Hawaii residential, industrial, and retail/commercial real estate over its 23-year history, plans to redevelop Davies Pacific Center in response to a severe housing shortage in Honolulu. This includes converting most of the offices into 416 residential condominiums, priced to be affordable to buyers making average income in Hawaii. It will maintain the ground level retail and continue to operate the lower five floors as office space.

Recognized as “America's Most Livable City”, with a Walkscore of 97 and a TransitScore of 80, Honolulu is the capital and principal port of Hawaii. Its home island, Oahu, is the most populous of Hawaii's islands – home to over a million people, roughly three-quarters of the state’s population – and serves as the state's business and government hub.