The corner of Hotel and Nuuanu is Exhibit A on how we work as a team to help an investor create value in their investment real estate.

Downtown Jamie Brown” met us at his office on Bishop Street, his hair still wet from a morning foil surfing session at Kaisers. He excitedly fired up a big screen monitor in his conference room to show us how Hawaii Commercial Real Estate’s merger with Elite Pacific LLC. is the final piece of his company’s business pivot.

A couple of years ago, Hawaii Commercial Real Estate’s business was dominated by leasing one of Hawai‘i’s biggest office complexes. Since investment property sales and property management generate more revenue than leasing in today’s economy, Hawaii Commercial Real Estate developed a holistic approach where the property team handles the acquisition, leasing, management, and disposition, as opposed to the more traditional commercial real estate practice of having different teams handle each of the three functions separately.

Brown took us on a tour to show us what he meant. First stop was the iconic corner of Bishop and King Streets, home to Bishop Square, Hawai‘i’s largest office complex and a property that Brown helped sell to the current owners. “We have leased and sold many of Hawai‘i’s big office, retail, and industrial properties; but, being the landlord agent for Hawai‘i’s second-largest office complex required a disproportionate amount of time and energy. So, we resigned from that project to focus our leasing business on what is called ‘tenant representation,’ where we work for the tenant and not the landlord.” Brown described how they just saved a big insurance firm about $1 million in occupancy costs over the next five years.

Next stop was 2 N. Hotel Street, home to Fête, Hachibei, Pizza Mamo (formerly known as Brick Fire Tavern), Encore Saloon, Daley, and Hawaii Office Centers. Brown and his team cold-called the Southern California developer who purchased the property previously known for seedy bars. They found tenants for the building, created cash flow, and then sold the building for the highest per-square-foot price in Chinatown at the time. “This building is Exhibit A on how we work as a team to help an investor create value in their investment real estate. With Elite Pacific, we have access to many more real estate investors, many of whom don’t know yet that they can create something like the 2 N. Hotel.”

About five years ago, Brown had a hunch that a significant synergy could be established with a large residential real estate brokerage. Residential agents have relationships with people who are real estate investors and own businesses. Yet, residential agents don’t typically ask their clients if they need help with commercial real estate. What if residential clients wanted to move up from owning a condo or house as an investment to an apartment building, retail center, office building, or warehouse? It would be a win-win-win situation, where residential agents could earn referrals from their relationships, their clients would be represented by commercial real estate professional specialists, and the commercial agents would have deal flow. The reverse could happen as well. Brown approached two of the largest residential firms on the islands, but neither shared his vision. “Then, one day in 2019, Paul Mayer from Elite Pacific, the parent of Corcoran Pacific Properties, called me saying he had the same idea and had 200+ residential agents.” Brown and Mayer closed on the merger in November of 2020. “We are only a couple of months in, and we are already sending and receiving referrals with Corcoran Pacific agents.” Brown continued.

Our last stop was 1164 Nuuanu, the former Pegge Hopper Gallery building. Brown and his team helped two investors deeply connected to the local arts scene purchase the property in August 2020. “That deal started just before COVID,” Brown said. “We encountered permitting issues, lender underwriting changes, and a stale appraisal, but we managed to close the sale with a COVID discount. The new use is really cool and includes a coworking center for artists.”

Brown finished his tour talking about the neighbor islands. “We handle business on the other Hawaiian Islands as well. We already have two Hawai‘i island agents with commercial listings, and with Elite Pacific and Corcoran Pacific Properties, their extensive networking capabilities, over 200 Hawai‘i agents, and eleven offices, we can now establish a statewide footprint and truly be Hawaii Commercial Real Estate!”