A West Coast-based private equity firm recently purchased the iconic Kona Bay Hotel in the heart of Kailua Village.
Shapery Enterprises, which operates out of San Diego, doled out $21 million for the 122-room hotel on just over 2 acres of fee-simple, hotel-resort zoned property in Kailua-Kona.
The sale was announced Jan. 19 by Honolulu-based JLL, Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc., which listed both the hotel and Kona Inn Shopping Village for sale last summer.
Attempts to reach the agents, as well as Wendell Brooks III, JLL’s executive vice president and Hawaii broker lead, were unsuccessful as of press-time Thursday. The new owner, Shapery Investments, also did not respond for comment.
“Kona Bay Hotel is a unique and rare opportunity to own fee simple in the high barrier to entry market of Kailua-Kona,” Eric Kathrein, a member of the team representing the seller, said in a press release.
Added Brooks, “it is a generational offering that is near and dear to the community, and we are excited to see the vision the buyer has for this property.”
According to county tax records, ownership of the 86,000-square-foot shopping center remained unchanged Thursday.
Ownership of the nearly 60-year-old hotel was listed as San Diego-based 12th &“A” Hotel Partners, L.P. A check of state business records showed the company was established in Hawaii in November 2020 with Sandor Shapery — the owner of Shapery Enterprises — as its agent with a Captain Cook address.
William “Uncle Billy” Kimi Jr., who constructed the Hilo Bay Hotel in 1963, purchased the hotel, also built in 1963, in Kona in 1978, adding two buildings in 1979. Kimi also purchased the Kona Inn Shopping Village.
Kimi died in 2016 at the age of 93 and the family, which is the seller, operated it until its closure on March 5, 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Kona Bay Hotel is situated on about 2.06 acres on the mauka side of Alii Drive. Its four buildings, two of which reach four stories, cover 89,588 square feet. The hotel also features an 800-square-foot reinforced concrete pool built in 1965. The county listed the total market value of the property at $4.42 million.
The Kona Inn Shopping Village, built on the site of the Kona Inn, which opened in 1928, is located on about 4.07 acres of oceanfront property on the makai side of Alii Drive valued by the county at $8.06 million. It boasts numerous store fronts; the Kona Inn restaurant; and 750 feet of “unobstructed” frontage on Kailua Bay.