New tenants at Hawaii Safeway at Kapahulu
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
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Three restaurants, an ice cream parlor and a coffee shop are some of the new tenants expected to occupy The Avenue Shops at Safeway Center on Kapahulu Avenue.
Good to Grill and Caliente del Sol, both owned by local partners Wes Zane and Almar Arcano, and Pearl's Korean BBQ will be three of the 14 tenants in the 14,806 square feet of retail space on the property that fronts Kapahulu Avenue.
In addition, Seattle's Best Coffee and Cold Stone Creamery will open in the center, which is under construction.
The supermarket will also feature a First Hawaiian Bank and Starbucks inside. This will be the first Starbucks paired with a Safeway in the Islands.
The company is also in discussions with the U.S. Postal Service for a post office site on the property. (The former strip mall on which the new center stands had a post office.)
The new Safeway and its tenants — of which only half are secured — are scheduled to open for business by the end of this year.
"Over the last year, we have been working to bring in businesses that will complement Safeway's offerings and offer convenience and choice to the Kapahulu neighborhood," said Steve Berndt, Safeway's vice president of real estate, in a news release. "This initial group reflects our desire to create a center that responds to many residents' needs, from groceries to ready-made foods to banking, while being both parking- and pedestrian-friendly."
In addition to adding businesses that can provide services to neighborhood residents, the company is interested in boutique-style retailers that offer unique services or products, said Kyle Arsiga of CBRE Hawaii, which is handling the leasing of tenants.
The company is in negotiations with several local small-business owners who want to start or grow their retail stores, he said.
This will be the supermarket chain's 13th store on O'ahu. It will spread over more than 60,000 square feet, making it the largest Safeway in the state.
It will boast the company's new "lifestyle" format — like those in Hawai'i Kai and Kapolei — with wood floors, a bakery and deli, and an expanded gourmet section. This Safeway will also feature a sit-down sushi bar.
The center will include a 367-square-foot meeting room that will be available for community groups to use.
Safeway will serve an area that has just two supermarkets — Foodland in Market City Shopping Center and Times Super Market on Wai'alae Avenue — after Star Market in Kahala Mall closed in March.
But it will soon get competition when Whole Foods, an upscale organic and natural foods grocery chain, opens at Kahala Mall early next year.
Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.