Downtown Honolulu’s parking squeeze just got a plot twist. Bank of Hawaii has bought a Chinatown parking garage for $16.5 million and plans to use the multi-level structure primarily for staff parking, locking down a big chunk of stalls just steps from the Hawaii Theatre in the heart of downtown.
Pacific Business News reports that the bank paid $16.5 million for Mark’s Garage, closed the deal this month, and aims to reserve the garage for employee parking as part of a broader effort to secure spaces close to its downtown offices.
Mobile Infrastructure, the seller, said the transaction generated $16.5 million in gross proceeds that went toward paying down mortgage principal and cutting its line of credit, according to StreetInsider. “The sale of our Honolulu asset and continued progress on reducing our line of credit underscores the effectiveness of our asset rotation strategy,” Mobile Infrastructure CEO Stephanie Hogue said in the company’s statement. Federal filings show Mark’s Garage was part of the MIC Parking Portfolio and listed with roughly 308 spaces, according to an SEC filing.
About the Property
The garage holds about 308 vehicles and includes ground-floor retail that has long been home to community arts programming, according to a commercial listing. The property has frontage on Nuuanu, Pauahi and Bethel streets, and it is well known as the site of The ARTS at Marks Garage, which uses the retail space for exhibitions and performances, per Colliers/CommercialSearch and The ARTS at Marks Garage.
What It Means for Downtown
Turning a 300 plus space facility into bank-focused employee parking effectively removes a sizable slice of public parking inventory from a neighborhood where open stalls can feel like lottery wins. Pacific Business News notes that Bank of Hawaii has not yet released a timeline for converting the garage to employee-only use, and nearby merchants and arts groups say they will be watching closely to see how access and validation programs are handled.
The deal also fits into Mobile Infrastructure’s wider asset-rotation program, which the company says has returned more than $30 million so far and targets about $100 million in property dispositions, according to StreetInsider. For now, Bank of Hawaii has not announced any redevelopment plans or changes to the retail tenants at the site.
