Dream for Hawaii’s Place of Joy to Become Reality

By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

Plans are moving forward for the first Four Seasons resort on Oahu.

According to the Pacific Business News, the development team has been issued a major building permit for the project, which will result from the complete overhaul of the former JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at the master-planned Ko Olina community in West Oahu.

The Resort Group, led by Hawaii real estate developer Jeff Stone, and its Canadian partner Westbank are investing an estimated $500 million into the development, which includes $250 million for the hotel’s acquisition and another $250 million for its reconstruction.

Once the renovation is complete, by February 2016, the new Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina (which stands for “place of joy” in Hawaiian) will feature about 400 fully refurbished units. Of these, about half will be guestrooms dedicated for hotel use, while the rest will be resort condominiums.

Plans also call for a new 15-story tower with 150 Four Seasons-branded luxury residences, the first project of its kind on the island. This component of the development—known as the Four Seasons Resort Estates Oahu at Ko Olina—was designed by 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Toyo Ito and will be unveiled in September.

“This is the fulfillment of a long-held dream for Ko Olina,” Stone said in an earlier statement, when the plan was launched in 2014. “The economic impact of the project, the return to the state and county, is over $1 billion. This is a real hotel with real residences that are part of the hotel. No brand has ever come and done this.”

Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts operates several properties in Hawaii, including the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Kaupulehu on the Big Island and the Four Seasons Resort Lanai, The Lodge at Koele.

Photo credits: Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts