A derelict property at a busy intersection in Waikīkī has been an eyesore for passersby and a thorn in the side of neighboring business owners for more than seven years. 

Despite their concerns and complaints to their state representative and police, the property will likely remain the way it is for the foreseeable future.  

Paul Kosasa, president and CEO of ABC Stores, bought the four buildings at 2256 Kūhiō Avenue in 2020 for nearly $16 million. He planned to turn them into a marketplace of boutique shops and restaurants, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed those plans. 

The property used to house 10 businesses, including two strip clubs, a tattoo parlor and an adult video store, but has been vacant since 2018. 

Last year, the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting granted Kosasa a permit to begin work on the main building at the corner of the property, but he said when he ran the numbers, he decided refurbishing it and bringing it up to code would be too expensive. He declined to say how much it would cost.

One permit application from Feb. 7, 2024, for alterations to an existing building estimates the value of the work at $622,000, including electrical and plumbing work. A second application from the same time for site work lists an estimated value of the work at $58,000.

Bringing the structure into compliance would require demolishing at least part of it and removing a balcony built more than 50 years ago without a permit, Kosasa said. 

“We decided to kind of pause for now, but we haven’t stopped thinking about it,” he said. “I agree, it’s an eyesore.”

Neighbors, though, are frustrated with the lack of action on a property that they say isn’t just an eyesore but a potential hazard. Indeed, one of the buildings caught fire Saturday, and was put out in about an hour. The Honolulu Fire Department is investigating the cause and the extent of damge.

Property Has Checkered History

David Lowe-Bima, a managing partner at Tapas, a restaurant on Seaside Avenue directly behind the derelict property, said bartenders are sometimes afraid to leave the establishment late at night. They’ve told him they sometimes see people hopping the fence that surrounds the property, jumping between the rooftops of the buildings and pulling away the wood planks that cover some of the holes in the walls. 

Lowe-Bima said he’s worried the property, with its dark, decrepit buildings, deters customers — especially late at night when his restaurant is one of the only establishments on the street still open. Returning customers who have been visiting Waikīkī for years often ask him what’s going on with the space. 

“Why is it still like this?” he said they ask. “We don’t have any answers. It’s not under our control.”

Even before Kosasa purchased it in 2020, the property had a checkered history.

In 2017, a man was killed and two others were injured when an assailant entered Club Alley Cat, a strip club located on the premises, and opened fire into a crowd, according to a Honolulu Star Advertiser story.

The following year, the property’s then-owner, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, evicted 10 businesses, including a gun club, two restaurants and three nightclubs as well as the strip clubs, adult video store and tattoo parlor.

The businesses were evicted with little notice, and according to an HNN story from the time, the gun club left hazardous materials behind. The Honolulu Fire Department found live ammunition during an inspection, and the state Department of Health told the Weinberg Foundation it had to hire an environmental consultant to look at the site.

The Weinberg Foundation did not respond to a call and email seeking comment.

The buildings have been vacant ever since.

Robert Finely, chair of the Waikīkī Neighborhood Board, said there haven’t been any major incidents at the site in recent years, but Waikīkī residents are anxious to see it redeveloped.

“It’s a little bit gloomy at night,” he said. “It’d be nice to see it go.”

Police responded to six calls to the property between Jan. 1 and Dec. 22 last year. Jaimie Song, spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department, said firefighters have not responded to any incidents there since 2020. The last time a fire inspection was conducted at the site was in 2017.

Officials with the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting responded to one complaint at the property in 2025 for a report of a swarm of bees in one of the buildings, department spokesman Davis Pitner said.

Pitner said an inspector spoke with a manager who said the problem was being handled.

“A follow-up inspection confirmed that the bees were gone, and no violation was issued,” Pitner wrote in an email.

‘It Can’t Stay Like This Too Much Longer’

Kosasa said he tries to keep the property secure. His employees seal doors and windows with plywood and paint over graffiti periodically.

He understands people’s frustration with his lack of action on the property. 

While it’s not actively on the market, he said he’d be willing to sell it for the “right price,” though he declined to say what that price is. He said he’s been approached by a few interested buyers, none of them serious. 

The land is valued at $7.3 million and the buildings at just over $760,000, according to city property records.

State Rep. Adrian Tam, who represents Waikīkī, said he heard from several constituents last year who are concerned the property is negatively impacting the neighborhood. He wants to see it better maintained to deter people from breaking in. And, ultimately, he wants to see it developed into something that benefits the community. 

“I’m not thrilled about the idea of just leaving it derelict when we have a housing shortage, when our tourism numbers are not at the highest right now and many businesses are struggling,” he said.

Kosasa, who also owns Dukes Lane Market & Eatery on the opposite side of Kūhiō Avenue and whose family owns the ABC Stores chain, said he passes 2256 Kūhiō almost every week. Each time it gives him a sense of disappointment, “maybe a bit of despair,” he said. 

The permit he holds to renovate the corner building is active until 2027, he said. He’s hopeful that economic conditions will change enough to make work on the buildings feasible. 

“I’m optimistic we’ll get there,” he said. “It can’t stay like this too much longer.”