If you’re thinking of buying property in Waikiki, the beachfront section of Honolulu, you’ll be interested to learn of the new International Market Place, bar far the hottest new development in Waikiki.
The new shopping center will feature a Saks Fifth Avenue, the largest high-end retail space in Waikiki, and is scheduled to open in spring of 2016. It’s an exciting development due to the boost it will give the local economy, creating hundreds of jobs. In addition to Saks, the sprawling shopping center will include the Grand Lanai, a 50,000-square foot seating area for the several restaurants to be housed there. Since the market—on Kalakua Avenue, is a block from the beach, this concentration of dining options is beneficial to the throngs of tourists.
The new development replaces the old International Market Place, a Waikiki landmark. Some are sad to have seen the old market place go, and bemoan the coming of a shiny, upscale mall. The old market place had the famed banyan trees watching over it, but was thought by many to be kitschy and tourist-oriented. The change marks one of a largely open-air market to a traditional shopping mall. It’s not yet known which stores will populate the many mall spaces aside from Saks Fifth Avenue. The developer, Taubman Centers, is based in the Detroit suburb Bloomfield Hills, MI, and specializes in upscale retail centers.
Traditionalists will be pleased to know that the renowned Banyan tree will be preserved along with the market’s name.
Peter Apo, a former state representative, who is working with the developers, assures Honolulu Magazine that a “Hawaiian sense of place” will pervade the new mall. He predicts this will include exhibits that celebrate Queen Emma wife of Kamehamaeha IV, who prevailed as a sort of patron saint over the original market.
New developments are always a bonus for buyers of real estate, bringing in tax revenue that fund all of the amenities important to local residents. And while some are critical of the passing of the old market, many residents may find the new center to have more to offer and to ultimately make a better community hub.
It won’t be long before the new development will be an institution, and generations of people will have their own memories of dining and shopping there. It will forge its own traditions.
