HONOLULU (OSV News) ─ The Diocese of Honolulu is expanding its footprint in downtown Honolulu with the purchase of a historic building on Fort Street Mall.
The sale of the Model Progress Building to the diocese by a subsidiary of the Alexander C. Waterhouse Sr. Foundation closed Feb. 13 for $5.8 million, according to Michael Yee, director of real estate for the diocese.
The purchase will be "an investment in the future ministries of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace and of the Diocese of Honolulu," Bishop Larry Silva told the Hawaii Catholic Herald, the diocesan news outlet.
The ongoing top-to-bottom renovation of the cathedral basilica in downtown Honolulu will include the addition of a reliquary chapel for a relic of St. Damien and the remains of St. Marianne Cope, Bishop Silva said. As a result of the new chapel, "we anticipate that it (the cathedral basilica) will become a very active pilgrimage site for local people and pilgrims from all over the world."
"We also need spaces in which to gather for receptions, seminars and classes, so we are looking to have a 'Cathedral Commons,' including places where we can meet for spiritual and catechetical enrichment and welcome visitors," he added.
Bishop Silva said that in addition to serving visitors and local faithful, "we want to be sure we have the spaces for auxiliary services as well."
"Our outreach to the poor and needy has always been a part of who we are," he said, "and that certainly will be a part of our mission in this 'new' space."
Bishop Silva and Yee both described the Model Progress Building as an investment property that in the short term will continue to serve as a commercial building where businesses can lease space. The current ground-floor tenants are the Flower Fair, a family-owned florist, and architecture firm Hiarchy LLP; self-storage units in the basement are also available for rent, Yee said.
The Model Progress Building was completed in 1898 at the intersection of Fort Street Mall and Beretania Street, near the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace and the diocese's chancery office building.
The four-story property stands out with its stately stone, iron and brick construction. It comprises two buildings ─ the Progress Building and the Model Building ─ that share a wall and elevator, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers-Hawaii Section website.
Completed at different times at the turn of the 20th century, the buildings eventually became indistinguishable and were given the combined Model Progress name.
Hawaii Pacific University was the most recent primary occupant of the Model Progress Building, using it for offices and classrooms. The building was placed on the market last year by San Ramon Royal Vista Golf Courses Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Waterhouse Foundation.
Vanessa Kop, a parishioner at Sacred Heart Church in Honolulu, is a broker with the commercial real estate agency NAI CBI Hawaii and represented San Ramon Royal Vista Golf Courses in the sale to the diocese.
"It was a pleasure doing the walk-through with the honorable Bishop (Larry) Silva" as the diocese assessed the Model Progress Building, Kop said.
Yee said that with the cathedral basilica's renovation as the diocese's immediate focus, there is no timeline to begin occupying and using the Model Progress Building.
The diocese expresses its heartfelt appreciation to the Waterhouse Foundation for consideration of the Catholic Church's mission and long-term plans for the building and to Kop for facilitating the transaction, Yee added.
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Celia K. Downes is the editor of the Hawaii Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu.
