Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Strip getting a slice of the island

Shopping center that opens today offers splash of Hawaiian spirit

The 80,000-square-foot Hawaiian Marketplace is set to open today on the Strip in front of Polo Towers. With native sounds, sights and entertainment, the open-air $175 million island-style plaza seeks to recreate the feel of a Polynesian island. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

The Strip will add 80,000 square feet of retail space with today's opening of Hawaiian Marketplace, a $175 million island-style shopping plaza with retail, entertainment and dining options in front of Polo Towers.

Modeled after the International Marketplace in Honolulu, the Las Vegas version incorporates Polynesian-themed architecture with tropical plants and familiar island sights and sounds, the developer said Monday. A sidewalk resembling a Hawaiian boardwalk will include an array of markets, including retail stores complemented by kiosks.

"This is the type of retail that existed up and down the Strip 30 years ago, little guys who came out and hawked their wares," said Brett Torino, managing partner of Metroflag, a joint venture between Las Vegas-based Torino Cos. and Flag Luxury Properties of New York City.

"We made a decision to bring these guys back. We were not after high-end retailers. Our mission was to focus on retailers and not add them as part of something that already existed on the property."

Torino said there's tremendous demand by the 35 million people visiting Las Vegas each year for retail and dining environments that are accessible without entering a casino.

"We're not the Showcase. We're not the Aladdin," he said in comparing his project to nearby malls. "We are very pedestrian-friendly. First of all, the sidewalk on the Strip runs right through the middle of our project. You walk into this refreshing Polynesian environment as you're walking down the Strip. This is an open outdoor environment. You come and go as you please."

A Hawaiian-born Strip worker said he was interested in checking out the mall when it opens, but noted that the list of restaurant tenants, including Hamada of Japan and the family-owned Tabla Indian restaurant, were all "mainland" restaurants, none from Hawaii.

Torino said the marketplace is "not all about food," and that there are probably half a dozen Polynesian vendors there.

Team Aloha, a Las Vegas-based troupe of island-born performers, will entertain visitors with dancing, storytelling and crafts.

A statue of King Kamehameha, the fearsome conqueror, greets visitors at the entrance of the building. It's the second statue outside of Hawaii sanctioned by the Royal Order of King Kamehameha, Torino said.

Tony Dazzio, vice president of development for Burke & Associates, general contractor for the project, said the Hawaiian Marketplace presented a number of challenges in turning "an ordinary garden-variety" shopping plaza into a highly themed Hawaiian village.

"It's a pretty unique project," Dazzio said. "It's got this really cool Polynesian feel to it. We're proud of it. It's on the Strip and we wanted to demonstrate we can build something like this."

The theming design recreates an outdoor village integrating indigenous Hawaiian flora with banyan and eucalyptus trees under a fire-protected, 25,000-square-foot arched canopy structure.

It's supported by main columns clad with carved concrete tree trunks that rise up from the subterranean 245-space valet parking garage to about 40 feet beneath the canopy, where steel-carved concrete tree limbs spread out with branches and leaves.

Animatronic birds representing native Hawaiian species pop out of a birdhouse in the Enchanted Garden, performing original Hawaiian songs at programmed times throughout the day.

Torino said Las Vegas has about 55,000 native Hawaiians living here, but they're not his target demographic.

"The nice thing is where we are on Las Vegas Boulevard," he said. "We developed this on Las Vegas Boulevard because that's our draw."

He estimates daily foot traffic of 40,000 to 50,000 at the location just south of Harmon Avenue.