HGVC Breaks Ground on New Tower at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki
Monday, June 9, 2014
Hilton Grand Vacations Club (HGVC) has broken ground on the newest timeshare resort in Hawaii, The Grand Islander Tower at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort.
The new 418-unit tower will be adjacent to the Tapa Tower at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki. Located along Kalia Road, the new Grand Islander tower will offer breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean from any of its 37 floors. Members will also receive access to Hilton’s private 22-acre beach.
Hilton Worldwide has partnered with Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI, A Blackstone-managed fund, for the tower’s funding. The group celebrated with start of construction with a groundbreaking ceremony.
The ceremony and traditional Hawaiian blessing was hosted by Tyler Henritze, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone. Other attendees included Mark Wang, Executive Vice President, Global Sales and President, Hilton Grand Vacations for Hilton Worldwide, Jerry Gibson, Area Vice President for Hilton Hawaii, and Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell.
Tyler Henritze shared, “We are thrilled to partner with Hilton Worldwide to bring a new timeshare offering to the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort. Combined with the quality of the Hilton Grand Vacations Club product and the Hilton brand, this destination will provide a fantastic vacation experience. We’re pleased that Blackstone’s investment will help create hundreds of jobs for the community, in line with our continuing commitment to Hawaii’s tourism economy.”
Currently, more than 3,000 people are employed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The new tower will add more than 1,000 jobs for Waikiki residents.
While Henritze discussed the benefits for Waikiki residents, Mark Wang touched on the opportunities for vacation ownership.
Wang commented, “It is our privilege to continue creating new ownership opportunities for our discerning clientele with a spectacular new Hilton Grand Vacations Club tower in Hilton Hawaiian Village. This project combines the industry-leading sales, marketing and management expertise of Hilton Grand Vacations with the established development strength of Blackstone, and builds upon our history of strategic collaboration.”
The Grand Islander will become the 5th Hilton Grand Vacations Club resort on Oahu and the 8th resort in Hawaii. The expected date of completion is Spring of 2017.
