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Honolulu Condo News - HIcondos.com
5/31/2006
Escape From NY: Trump Plans Tower For Waikiki
Forbes
by Greg Levine
New York - Waikiki is almost as much an idea as a place.
Gracing the Hawaiian island of Oahu, the resort district is home to Tiny Bubbles singer Don Ho, the setting for the passionate "beach scene" in From Here to Eternity and even lent its name to a canonical Bugs Bunny episode--decades before the lepine wiseguy belonged to Time Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people ). Counterbalancing Oahu's other, darker iconic area--Pearl Harbor--Waikiki is synonymous with everything blissful.
And here comes Donald Trump and a demolition team. But the Trump Entertainment Resorts (nasdaq: TRMP - news - people ) namesake plans not to sully the seaside idyll, but to exploit it for the comfort and pleasure of vacationers--and maybe mainland expats.
The real-estate billionaire on Tuesday announced plans for a posh hotel-condominium edifice, the cornerstone of a reported $800 million Waikiki Beach Walk redevelopment project.
The star of General Electric's (nyse: GE - news - people ) NBC hit The Apprentice crowed in a statement that, "Trump Tower will be the most luxurious development in one of the most recognized resort destinations in the world today--Waikiki Beach."
The Trump Organization is teaming up with the ominously-named Irongate, a Los Angeles-based property development firm that bought the site rights last year from Outrigger Enterprises, the master developer for the project.
Plans for the grandiosely titled Trump International Hotel and Tower Waikiki Beach Walk include a 350-foot tower with some 460 hotel-condo units, according to The Associated Press.
And for those rare birds who didn't come to the Pacific isle for the flora and warm zephyrs, the 775,000 square-foot building is slated to include a library, wine cellar, lobby bar, cafe, fitness center, spa, retail and dining spaces, and separate residential and hotel lobbies.
Construction is set to wrap up in early 2009. Look for travelers bearing "Waikiki or bust" signs.
Related Building: Trump Tower Waikiki
Related Neighborhoods:Waikiki - Central
http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/31/trump-waikiki-resort-cx_gl_0531autofacescan11.html
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