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photo: Wes Funai

ATTACK OF THE CLONES!

If you're driving along Nimitz Highway and notice something vaguely familiar about downtown Honolulu's newest high rise, don't worry, you're not imagining things. The 23-story, 251-unit, 215 N. King St., is the fourth condominium in nearly a decade to be constructed from the same basic architectural plans. The no-nonsense residential tower, with a separate multilevel parking garage, probably didn't win many design awards but it has won plenty of fans, both residents and developers. We couldn't get a hold of officials from Waldron Ventures, the developer of all four condominium projects, for comments on their often-repeated design. But we'd imagine that they must have been thinking, "If it ain't broke, why fix it?"

Ð David K. Choo

* Can you name the other three versions of 215 N. King St.?

photo: Jacy L. Youn

DOUBLE AGENT

The secret agent at the GIFT Foundation's Halloween Gone Wild 2005 party may have been undercover, but he was easily identified by one of our eagle-eyed editors. (Being 6'7" tall also helped.) In an instance of life imitating art, Mayor Mufi Hannemann (pictured with his wife, Gail) donned trench coat, fedora and Blackberry to recreate the Dick Tracy-like illustration of him in our October cover story: "Powerbrokers: Agents of Change." Thanks for the compliment, Mayor. But thank us for going with the Dick Tracy theme instead of another cartoon option, the Powerpuff Girls.

Ð David K. Choo

photo courtesy of NASDAQ stock market A RISING STAR Chief executive officer and founder of Hoku Scientific, Dustin Shindo, above, presides over the opening of the NASDAQ Stock Market in celebration of his company's successful 2005 IPO. While the homegrown, fuel cell technology start-up's public offering was big news in Hawaii, it was also big news in the financial sector as demonstrated by the October NASDAQ invite. In fact, in late November, Forbes magazine ranked Hoku (NASDAQ: HOKU) as one of the best IPOs of the year. The question remains how far Hoku Ð which means star in Hawaiian Ð will rise. Hoku opened at $6 per share on Aug. 5. By mid-December 2005, Hoku was hovering over $9.50 a share. Perhaps a more burning question for the state's nascent high-tech industry is what Hawaii company could be next on the IPO stage. A couple of picks for 2006: Hoana Medical, which has developed a futuristic device to passively measure a patient's vital signs, and Hawaii Biotech, a biopharmaceutical developer. Ð Scott Radway

A BUILDER OF DREAMS, IN MEMORIAM

As the years pass, H.T. Hayashi will perhaps be most remembered for building the Pagoda Hotel and Floating Restaurant. In the 1960s, Hayashi, already a success, foresaw the need for a hotel between downtown and Waikiki and took an orphan piece of land and turned it into an icon. Hayashi designed a hotel with expansive koi ponds and Japanese gardens that continues to marvel visitors today.

photo courtesy: HTH Corp.

Or perhaps some will credit Hayashi most for the engineering feat of a three-story, 280,000-gallon Oceanarium, added to the Pacific Beach Hotel after he purchased it in 1970. In the early 1960s, Hayashi also built much-needed affordable housing for locals, Honolulu's Pagoda Terrace and the Pagoda Inn, now called Liona Apartments, and he built the commercial structure called King Center. In 1991, he added the King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel to his holdings.

But when Hayashi died late last year, at 85, his employees and family remembered him most as an inspiration. Hayashi was the local boy who made it big. He grew up on a sugar plantation, scraped his way through college, made it in Hawaii through hard work and never forgot where he came from.

"He achieved what he wanted to achieve and he would like us, too, to be like that," says Linda Morgan, director of human resources for HTH Corp., one of Hawaii's largest homegrown hospitality-industry companies. "He believed in the potential of local people, he was a builder of dreams. That is how we will remember him. He always inspired us."

Ð Scott Radway

DO YOU SEE THE LIGHT?

President Bush handed Big Oil and other fossil fuels massive tax breaks in his 2005 energy bill. However, tucked inside that bill, which Congress passed, was a comparatively small tax credit for solar power that some believe could make 2006 the Year of the Sun. "I am still pinching myself," says Marco Mangelsdorf, president of Hilo-based ProVision Technologies Inc.

The tax credit for businesses bumps up from the 10 percent given in prior years to 30 percent. That is matched with the state tax credit of 35 percent of the cost, or up to $250,000. For residential, the credit maxes out at $2,000 from Uncle Sam and $1,750 from the state.

Considering its environment and isolation, Hawaii is perhaps the perfect place for this tax credit to spur interest and for alternative energies, such as solar, to really take hold. But some industry experts say, because the federal tax credit rolls back after 2007, it will not create the long-term investment needed in the industry. For the next two years though, the sun is shining on solar.

To learn more, Hawaiian Electric Co. will give a free workshop on renewables Jan. 12. Call 543-4790 to attend.

Ð Scott Radway

WHAT? Hawaii Business defines often-spoken words, new and old, to help you make sense of what's being said. "Sick" is to today, what "bad" was to the '80s Ð it's actually good. Confused yet? The word has roots in South African surf lingo and is used in the surf and skate communities to describe something favorable or awesome. A sick wave, a sick party, even a song can be sick. Sick is no longer that cold virus you avoid. It's good to be sick. Ð Lori Anne Tomonari Email confusing words to hbeditorial@pacificbasin.net

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