Hawaii-based A&B sells building for $38 million

Hawaii-based A&B sells building to Japanese company for $38 million

• On 11:47 pm EDT, Tuesday October 27, 2009

HONOLULU (AP) -- Hawaii-based Alexander & Baldwin Inc. says it has completed the sale of an 18-story office building in Honolulu to a Japanese company for $38 million.

A&B Properties Inc., Alexander & Baldwin's real estate subsidiary, says the buyer is Maruito USA Inc., a subsidiary of the Japan-based Maruito Group, a financial services company.

A&B Properties President Norbert Buelsing said Tuesday that the proceeds from the sale are expected to be redeployed into other commercial real estate investments with strong growth potential.

The 130,600-square-foot (12,100-square-meter) building was constructed in 1989 and purchased by A&B in 2001.

The company says that with the sale, A&B's commercial property investment portfolio consists of 8.4 million square feet (780,000 square meters) of retail, office and industrial space in Hawaii and on the mainland.