Ko Olina Station and Center facts for kids
| Location | Kapolei, Hawaii, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 21°20′20″N 158°07′12″W / 21.339°N 158.12°W |
| Address | 92 Ali'inui Drive |
| Opening date | 2009 |
| Developer | Honu Group |
| Management | Beall Corporation |
| Owner | Beall Corporation |
| No. of stores and services | 31 |
| Total retail floor area | 56,000 square feet (5,200 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
Ko Olina Station and Ko Olina Center make up a lifestyle center in the resort town of Ko Olina, a neighborhood in Kapolei, Hawaii. The shopping mall opened in 2009 and consists of two centers located across a street from each other. Ko Olina Station debuted in 2009, while the more recent Ko Olina Center finished construction in 2010. The centers contain a total of approximately 31 retail tenants, with the majority of them being native Hawaiian businesses, such as ABC Stores and Peter Merriman's MonkeyPod Kitchen.
The center was modeled after a "rural" Hawaiian community, with its grocery store modeled after a "country store". It is located directly north along the old Oahu Railway and Land Company tracks, and includes a mix of dining and retail options.
History
Ko Olina Station and Ko Olina Center were built to cater to those staying at any of the four Ko Olina resorts: Aulani, Four Seasons' Ihilani Resort, Ko Olina Beach Villas, and Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club. The shopping mall was built in the center of the Ko Olina Golf Club, which hosts the Lotte Championship for golf every spring since 2012. The lifestyle center was developed by Honu Group, with its first phase, Ko Olina Station, opening in 2009. Ko Olina Center opened in 2010, and unlike Station, featured a second floor for office space. Located directly across from Aulani, the center's purpose is to "offer office space, speciality stores, restaurants, amenities and other services" to Ko Olina. Together, they consist of 56,000 square feet (5,200 m2) of retail and office space, with Station consisting of sixteen tenants and Center consisting of fourteen.
In 2014, the center added several new retailers to their lineup, including Wyland Galleries, Island Sole, and Honolua Surf Co. After this announcement followed the expansion of Pineapple Boutique, a luxury apparel retailer, that stated the opening of a second location within the mall. However, when the JW Marriott Ihilani, a former resort in Ko Olina, announced its closure, the center's tenants became worried about their businesses; Frank Mento, the owner of Pizza Corner, a local pizzeria, joked that his pizza parlor would "lose a slice of its sales". As of June 2016, the lifestyle center is approaching full capacity, with only 3 vacant retail tenants and 5 vacant office tenants.
Design
Many of the stores and tenants that are located in Ko Olina Station and Center were designed to resemble rural Hawaii. Island Country Market, the center's grocery store owned by ABC Stores, is modeled after a Hawaiian "rural country store". Jessica Goolsby of MidWeek described the store as a "fresh-market concept" with "high-quality foods" that contributes to a "one-of-a-kind shopping experience". The mall is located next to the old Oahu Railway and Land Company tracks, which originally hauled freight and passengers to the North Shore of Oahu; this location influenced the overall design of the center, incorporating the "historic" feel of the railroads.
