 Aloha, everyone. Welcome back to Iba Hawaii. I'm your host, Maria Mera. And also, we love to talk to you about how we live in Hawaii, how life is in the islands. And today we're going to focus in the area of Kakaako. And to help us talk about this zone, this area, we have here Dwayne Cominet. Dwayne is the general manager of the Tower Hokuwa. And Hokuwa is one of the most luxurious residential towers in Kakaako. And he has been awarded the Accredited Residential Manager of the Year in all the U.S. So we have the best general manager out there. Hola, muy buenas tardes y bienvenidos a Iba Hawaii. En nuestro programa nos gusta que veáis cómo vivimos en Hawaii, cómo vivimos en las islas. Y para ello nos hemos enfocado en la zona de Kakaako. Y nos hemos traído como invitado a Dwayne Cominet. Dwayne es el director residencial de la Torre de Hokuwa, que es una de las torres residenciales más lujosas de la zona. Y además ha sido galardonado con el premio al mejor general manager del año, en 2015. Thank you very much, Dwayne. And we are talking in English today to accommodate to our guests. So thank you very much for being here in the studio with us. Thank you for having me, Maria. So you were born and raised in Hawaii, right? Yes, I was born here, raised here, and I shall stay here in Hawaii. You've seen many changes. We'll talk about it. We'll talk about the past and the future of Kakaako. But tell us how would you, for those in our audience who don't know what Kakaako even is, could you describe? Well, Kakaako is a new, vibrant community that erupted about 20 years ago, 1986, when they built the first condominium, rural capital plaza. And since then, from the eight CDA process, since then, there's been so many condos being built, already built in our tower. You have Wahonua, you have Kualani. Or mainly residential towers. Luxury condominium is correct. Okay. So I went a little bit in the history, and it seems like in Kakaako in the 1800s was basically an area with salt ponds and fish ponds making. And it's going, what they call it now, to an urban oasis. So let's show a video for, again, those who don't know the area or those who know the area and want to know a little more. And then we'll keep talking. Vamos a ver un video de Kakaako para aquellos que no conocéis la zona, o para aquellos que la conocéis, si queréis saber un poquito más, vamos a ver el video. If it's one of the most beautiful places on earth, right? Absolutely. You completely agree, right? Because you also, you're a resident of Kakaako. You don't only work there, you live there. But all, not all is beautiful in paradise. There are some controversy and some, my numbers say that in 1990, 2200 people live in Kakaako. In 2000, 6200, by 2010, over 10,000 people. And now they are talking about probably increasing 30,000 to 40,000 more people living in the area. Is the infrastructure going to hold, the sewage, the traffic, water pipes? That's a really good question. The boom for real estate has grown, obviously. And for the infrastructure, I am quite satisfied that they have done the due diligence and the permitting and so forth. So the question is, do we have too much? I mean, are we oversaturated with luxury condominiums and do we need more affordable units? So it's a, I got a good question, but there's so much other questions that you can ask. So I've heard about affordable units. In these buildings, how much can a unit go for? How much are they selling them for right now? There was a price mark and a price point, you know, at Nifo Hukua, we're looking at maybe up a thousand plus per square foot. You know, I don't know the average. I'm not a real estate agent. Let's talk about just one unit, maybe a... No, we can get one unit. We can, in the market, for 2.5 million and all escalates as well. And usually those services price food markets, they price to the clients. And so does it make sense that those affordable units live together with prices that higher? Good question. I don't know how to answer that, but it's the location, I mean, you know, where they are, the real estate for Hukua is concerned anyway. And to be honest, I heard that affordable housing in Cacaco is going to be for a family of four, a salary of 120,000 a year, which seems pretty good for affordable housing, no? Yeah, especially where the location is, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. So how many units do you know? Is this all those units that are being sold? Are they coming from offshore money? Are these investments that they want to then get more money just? Well, I have 19 units at Hukua for sale. Most people are just moving on or get third ownership or people who are moving on to bigger condominium units that are opening up around town as well. So, you know, it's moving, it's, you know. So you think they are investing also to... Absolutely. Everybody's investing in Cacaco. It's a new hub of Honolulu. Yeah. So tell us a little more how you live with the Cacaco when you were a kid and the Cacaco now. How have you seen? What did you, what have, from your eyes, what have you seen? Well, 30 years ago, I've been in the district for 30 years and it has changed drastically. In 1976, when HCD was converted to making condominiums residential, it has changed the face of Cacaco. The Kobayashi-McNaughton group has changed the face of Alamoana forever. With Hukua, we have Park Lane as well and philosophy behind that being the luxury condominiums, resort-style living condominiums is something that was never heard of before in Hawaii. And Hukua being the benchmark has set the trend. We'll talk about Hukua later, but so who decides what goes where in Cacaco? Is it the HCDA? Is it the... because you hear so many political maneuvers and... That question, I really can't answer that question. I don't know how it's done, but there's ruling by the HCDA area if you're in the area, but I don't have to answer that question. I'll get back to you. Well, let's go to a break. Let's take a breather here and then we'll come back and we'll talk more about what you know and Hukua and the beautiful life that you're building there. Vamos a hacer un descanso y vamos a... are we in the break? Hello, this is Martin de Spang. I want to get you get excited about my new show, which is Humane Architecture for Hawaii and Beyond. We're going to broadcast on Tuesdays, 5 p.m. here on Think Tech Hawaii. Looking to energize your Friday afternoon? Tune in to Stand the Energy Man at 12 noon. Aloha Friday here on Think Tech Hawaii. Hey, how you doing? Welcome to the Bachi Talk. My name is Andrew Lanning. I'm your co-host, and we have a nice program here every Friday at 1 o'clock on Think Tech Studios, where we talk about technology and we have a little bit of fun with it. So join us if you can. Thanks. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Kaui Lucas, host of Hawaii is My Mainland here on Think Tech Hawaii every Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. Start your Paul Hanna weekend off with the show where I talk to people about issues pertinent to Hawaii. You can see my previous shows at my blog, KauiLukas.com, and also on Think Tech's show. Sorry. So sorry about that. We just went to a picture of Jack Laurie at the top of the Ilikai in 1968 that Duane provided for us, and you can see in the background how Kakaako was before. And so you can see the difference of how it's being built now. So it's a photo of Jack Lord, a Protagonista of Hawaii, and it's in one of the buildings. So Duane, back to nowadays, and we are in Hokuwa. You are accredited Residential Manager of the Year in 2015 in all the U.S. What does it take to be the best Property Manager? Thank you for saying that. I'm very proud to be nominated from Hawaii and it's years of hard work, creating a staff, a team, working with a board, a developer that has great philosophy, and giving back to the community such as helping other condominiums as well and other organizations and being a part of that. But most importantly, you need to love what you do. You need to like what you do. And we've been doing it nearly three decades. And starting from a janitor to the position that I am today, Hokuwa being the benchmark of the state of Hawaii for condo resort management, for I'm concerned. So it's kind of between a hotel and an apartment building? It's a condo with resort services. Do you work, you said you also try to be a community builder with the other, do you work with the other buildings and how are you, and do you guys get together? I have an association group organization, which has, we have about 15 members, all residential condo managers, veterans, and comparable buildings. We meet every two months, and we're called the super block, and we sit there for an hour, and we discuss current events. And what we learned in that one hour, it takes years to pretty much learn. And having the group and everybody's knowledge, it's amazing. And do you reserve your own knowledge a little bit just because they are after all your competitors? Good question. No, we share. And this is what made the group much closer. Because this group before, we were never close. Everybody had their own information and so forth. But now that we share, we go to the next level. So it's monumental. What kind of residence does Hokua have? Is it mainly, I know there is a lot of Japanese in the area. Is it mainly Japanese, or is it 50-50? The face of Hokua, or for us anyway, is the face of the ownership is going to Asian. We have so many different cultures there, but primarily, the people who live there are very established in what they do. And you have, we've seen swimming pool, yakuza, sauna, gym, cabana, everything that you can, and more. Plus, not only that, you have properties, you have restaurants also in the same tower and her salon, right? Yes, we have mixed commercial use. That's a mixed commercial use of buildings. So we have, like you said, restaurants, panya, we have Tango, we have Bank of Hawaii, we have Salon Blanc, and of course, the developers. And you are also managing all that? We manage the entire property. And you live in the same tower? Yes. So do you ever stop working, or do they let you stop working, or is it all? I live in a fishbowl, and I pretty much like what I do. Do you avoid residents, or some of them? No, you can't do that. Do you have a favorite resident? It's a political thing. It's like, you know, you have your own community, and you know, I like what I do, and... Yeah, it's more your life, your quality of life, your style of life, right? What are the HOA for this, for a place like in Hokuwa? What do you mean? The HOA, the how much, who pays for all these expenses? Don't want to pay for the maintenance fees. Through the maintenance fees, which is billed monthly, and it's like rent, but it's the maintenance fees that take care of the entire building. Okay, okay. Dwayne, I want to... I like to get to know my guests at a personal level, and also as a professional level, but I like to ask you a couple of questions that I usually get to know the person better. So whatever comes out of your mind first, then what's your favorite food? My favorite food is pasta. I like... Is it Italian pasta? Okay, Italian? I really like pasta. So can we say which place do you go for? Well, I like to go to, you know, Bellini's, Assagio, and I like that very much. Okay, I agree with you. Maybe not 100% because I have that Spanish heart in me, but 99%. Your favorite drink? Well, I like to have a white wine at the end of the day. White? Okay, any favorite specifically? Not really, just anything that tastes good. Italian? Okay, your favorite movie? My favorite movie was, that's really... A Wi-Fi fall? No, not a Wi-Fi fall. Actually, it was Bye Bye Birdie with Ann Margaret, and that was one of my favorite movies. Okay, you got me there. What is it about? It's like about Elvis, but it's a... You got to watch it. It's called Bye Bye Birdie. Okay. I used to watch that a lot. I'll put it in my list. Favorite song or kind of music? My favorite song, this reminds me of my wife. I like that song Sweet Thing by Shaka Khan. Okay, I threw a lot of research after that song, but I like it. Your favorite place? Favorite place would probably be... Or maybe the concept. Is it beach or mountain or city? For me, I like entertainment, so being on a concert stage or something like that is what I like to do, so being a musician. And so it's more the situation more than a place itself. You know, audience. Okay. Yes. Well, then you must be at ease right now. The best moment of your life or the one that you remember? My best moment of my life is, I guess, like having my... Or marrying my wife, obviously. And, secondly, the best moment of my life was actually opening up Hokuwa. Okay. That was like a little baby for you? I was something new for a state of Hawaii, and we did it. You felt like you were building something important for the community. Your favorite hobby, although I think... My favorite hobby? You answer that. I'm a musician. I'm a drummer, so I perform drums for 30 years. So I enjoy playing drums. I enjoy beating things. Where can we watch you play? Oh, I don't play anymore, so... I'm already tired now. You should. It's in your heart, right? No? Well, we'll talk about that later. What qualities do you like most in a person? Do you look for in a person? Integrity. To me, integrity and looking first and straight in the eye, you know, surround yourself with positive people, positive influential people cultivates me, and, you know, I mean, if the world did this, everyone would be, you know, the world would be such a better place. And who is the most important person for you? The most important person to me, for me, is in my family, you know, keeping me there, you know, because my work can get me out there real far. They keep you grounded? Yeah. And what is your dream? How do you see yourself? Continuing what I'm doing. So you're living your dream, basically? Yes. I really enjoy what I do. I actually really enjoy what I do. And how would you like to be remembered? That's a good question. I would like to be remembered, you know, perseverance and working hard, you know, like starting as a janitor and work your way all the way up 30 years, and you get such buildings that I have. That, to me, is the best thing I ever did, you know, so. So you're there already? But it took a long time to get there. Tell me an anecdote related to Hokuwa, that you, of something that has happened, and you don't usually talk about it, or maybe funny, or maybe not, or maybe sad, or something that you remember? Well, I remember having, I remember the earthquake we had back a few years ago when I was in the building, and actually, when we had the earthquake from the big island, our building actually swayed back and forth, you know, and, you know, waking up out of a deep sleep, and waking up in the actually scene of the building doing this was something that I will never forget. Yeah. Because in Hawaii, you usually have, you're more used to hurricanes, storms, earthquakes. Earthquake is a little bit off my record scale, you know. Of all the islands, if someone had to come, which ones would you recommend? I would go to Maui. I like Maui a lot. That's your favorite? Yes. Why? It's laid back. You know, you go there, all it intends with a lot of emotions and so forth, but when you come back, you're actually, you're calm, and everything is slow, you know, so you have to start all over. So for you, Honolulu, you're talking to someone who is from a European city of six million people. So for you, Honolulu, it's already pretty hectic. Yes. Well, it's hustle bustle, yes. It's a vibrant community. Who makes that? Is it the Hawaiians or the... It's just Hawaii, the people, the amount of people we have here, you know. It's, there's a lot of work being done here, a lot of condos being built, a lot of traffic. Everybody's working. Do you see yourself living somewhere else? Not at the moment. No. You like it here. If you could live somewhere else and you were retired, could you still pick a condominium sort of like Hokuwa, or would you prefer to live in a house or...? I probably wanted to go to Spain. Really? You're telling me. Yeah. That was very flattering. My wife and I will, my wife, she lived in Spain as well, so she will go back one day. Okay. Well, I'm here for you whenever you need some advice or some tour guide. Okay. Well, tell us more, how do you relate to the residents? Do you see them more as friends or you have to be careful? Well, you know, I have an open door policy, number one. Number two, all the residents and owners that I deal with, I have an open relationship with them. The door is always open. I can speak with them. I frankly rarely have any problems with anybody there. Are they mostly the owners live there or do they rent? I have a 60-40 percent, you know, about the owners that live there, and I have rentals as well. Yeah. I know Kakaako, the percentage is 53 percent. Rent, they rent, so it's mainly people are renting more than they stay. Well, thank you very much, Dwayne. This was a very quick conversation, but thank you very much for giving us your view of Kakaako, of Hokuwa, and we look forward to showing that pool. It's beautiful. Thank you. Okay. Well, thank you very much, everybody, for watching us, and we'll wait for you next Monday. And here again, Viva Hawaii, and we invite you to visit Kakaako. It's a very thrilling, very growing neighborhood, and it's definitely worth it. Muchas gracias a todos por vernos en Viva Hawaii. Esperamos el próximo lunes, y os invitamos a que vengáis a Hawaii, específicamente a la zona de Kakaako. Es realmente una de las mejores zonas, por lo menos que yo he visitado en mi vida. Buenas noches. Mahalo.