Momentum to fill vacant oceanfront parcels at the Ko Olina Resort in West Oahu, first announced in 2005, has picked up with the report of a project designed to create an “international destination for millennial travelers” that will include amenities such as a dolphin-encounter feature, shark habitat, and hotel rooms with a front-row seat into a giant aquarium.
Atlantis Resorts is expanding to Hawaii with its first project in the United States, which will be located on vacant oceanfront parcels of land near Disney’s Aulani hotel at Ko Olina Resort in West Oahu, Ko Olina’s master developer confirmed to Pacific Business News.
Hawaii developer Jeff Stone’s The Resort Group, the master developer of the 642-acre master-planned resort community, had previously told Pacific Business News that a subsidiary of China Oceanwide Holdings closed on the $280 million purchase of 26 acres of land at Ko Olina’s “Honu Lagoon 2.”
The site, which is located next to Disney’s Aulani, will be the home to the state’s first Atlantis Resort, which will be similar to Atlantis Dubai, Pacific Business News reported.
Atlantis The Palm, Dubai has an Aquaventure Waterpark, The Lost Chambers Aquarium, Dolphin Bay and Sea Lion Park. It also has more than 20 restaurants, a nightclub, spas, salons and a fitness center.
Stone said the Hawaii Atlantis Resort will be designed as an “international destination for millennial travelers,” Pacific Business News reported. He also said China Oceanwide’s partnership will help to bring other prestigious brands to Oahu.
“Oceanwide brings extensive global development experience to Ko Olina,” Stone said. “This project is extremely exciting for the state and will complement the Disney Aulani resort’s younger demographic perfectly.
“The resort will employ 1,800 people and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in city and state revenues,” Stone added. “A property of this scope and quality will enhance Oahu’s recognition as a luxury destination for years to come, and attract visitors from around the world to this special place on the west side of Oahu.”
HawaiiNewsNow reported that the Atlantic project at Ko Olina would include amenities similar to Atlantis Dubai, including a dolphin-encounter feature, shark habitat, and hotel rooms with a front-row seat into a giant aquarium.
Atlantis Resorts, a global luxury resort brand that specializes in “entertainment destination resorts” and operates properties in the Bahamas and Dubai, also has plans to unveil two more projects in 2017 — The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dubai and Atlantis Sanya in Hainan, China, Pacific Business News reported.
Kerzner International’s Atlantis Resorts brand is owned by the Investment Corp. of Dubai, Colony Capital Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Thomas Barrack Jr., founder and executive chairman of Colony Capital, and Takeshi Sekiguchi, an original developer of Ko Olina, facilitated Kerzner’s introduction to Hawaii, according to Stone.
The Atlantis Resort will join Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts’ first hotel on Oahu at the Ko Olina Resort, Pacific Business News reported. The Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina Resort opened in May, replacing the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa.
At full build-out, Ko Olina is pegged to generate about $1.4 billion in economic impact annually for the city and state and be West Oahu’s largest employer, with about 15,000 permanent jobs, Pacific Business News reported.
“I’m all for whatever kind of helps the economy here,” Ewa resident Jeff Jacobs, who wondered what would happen to the empty lot next to Disney’s Aulani Resort, told HawaiiNewsNow. “We walk out here all the time, and one thing that always occurred to me in this area is how many vacant lots there are between the hotels.”
Stone, the developer, first announced the project during a 2005 press conference, HawaiiNewsNow reported, but for reasons unknown, plans had stalled since then.
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