Centre Urban Real Estate

12/25/2025

Happy Holidays from Centre Urban! 🎁🌺
Our holiday cards have always featured abstract “urban grid” patterns to reflect the communities we work in and the city-building we love. This year’s card is especially meaningful: it celebrates our first Hawaiʻi-inspired design.

Mahalo for the support this year - Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

11/19/2025

Mahalo to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser for highlighting our vision to deliver 72 units of across two modest, mid-rise projects in Honolulu—1615 Ala Wai and 2533 Kāneloa. These two projects are designed for kamaʻāina earning 60–80% AMI, close to jobs and transit, allowing more the option to live, work, and play in .

This follows a great conversation at the Waikīkī Neighborhood Board, where both projects received unanimous support. Thank you to our partners—Watt Capital Partners, Hi•arch•y llp, Island Structural Contracting, and the City and County of Honolulu—and to our community neighbors for the robust discussion and positive feedback!

Centre Urban Real Estate is advancing plans to transform two Waikiki sites, including the long-­derelict 1615 Ala Wai Blvd., into 72 affordable workforce housing units under city guidelines.

07/28/2025

Exciting news from Honolulu!

After a highly competitive RFQ process, the City and County of Honolulu has announced the selection of Centre Urban Real Estate, in partnership with Watt Capital Partners, as the preferred negotiating partner for the redevelopment of 1615 Ala Wai Boulevard—a prominently located site at the gateway to Waikīkī.

The project, designed by the talented team at Hi•arch•y llp, is envisioned as midrise rental housing dedicated to serving working families and kamaʻāina (local residents).

This marks the team’s second kamaʻāina workforce housing project in Waikīkī, reinforcing our long-term commitment to creating housing that serve local residents while strengthening the urban fabric of Honolulu.

"We are honored to partner with the City on the redevelopment of 1615 Ala Wai,” said Martin M. Q. Nguyen, MRED, Principal of Centre Urban Real Estate. “As a local boy, I’m especially proud to be part of a team bringing forward a vision that reflects the natural evolution of the 1940s-era walk-up that has long stood on this site—an opportunity to pay homage to the past while addressing the pressing housing needs of today. We are committed to being rightful stewards of this transformation, delivering high-quality housing for kamaʻāina in Waikīkī, the economic engine of Honolulu. We look forward to working closely with Mayor Blangiardi, the City, and the Waikīkī community throughout this journey.”

“The selection of a qualified development partner marks an exciting new chapter for 1615 Ala Wai, and a proud moment for our city’s efforts to address long-standing challenges,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “We have taken this site from decades of vacancy and blight to a point where we can now reimagine its future. This project represents our administration’s commitment to delivering housing that serves local residents and strengthens our communities.”

Demolition of the existing structure is nearly complete, and we look forward to sharing more details as the design and entitlement process moves forward.

Congratulations to all involved as we continue working toward solutions that reflect our Cardinal value: doing well while doing good.

The city has selected Los Angeles-based Centre Urban Real Estate to develop a new affordable housing project in Waikiki.