News Releases

News Releases

News Releases

A&B Properties Joins Brookfield Homes to Develop Prime Kona Parcel; Joint Venture Will Develop Single-family and Multi-Family Homes

HONOLULU--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 17, 2004--Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEX) President & CEO Allen Doane announced today a joint venture with Brookfield Homes Corporation (NYSE:BHS) to develop a 30.5-acre residential parcel at the Mauna Lani Resort in North Kona on the island of Hawaii. This would be A&B's first residential development on the world-famous Kohala Coast, which includes, besides the Mauna Lani Resort, such other major destination resorts as the Mauna Kea Resort, Waikoloa Resort and Hualalai Resort.

The property was acquired by MLR Golf Partners LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between a subsidiary of A&B's real estate division, A&B Properties, Inc., and Brookfield Homes Hawaii Inc., a subsidiary of Brookfield Homes Corporation, which is one of the 20 largest homebuilders in North America. The 30.5-acre parcel is adjacent to the Mauna Lani Resort's North Golf Course, and is zoned for residential development. The property was purchased from the owner and master-developer of the Mauna Lani Resort, Tokyu, Inc. MLR Golf Partners LLC will be tasked with all future planning, development and sales of the project, which is envisioned to include a mix of high-end single-family and multi-family homes and house lots with first-class resort recreational amenities. Construction is anticipated to commence in late 2004.

"We continue to implement the strategy we adopted a few years ago of growing A&B's real estate business through new acquisitions and investments," said Stanley Kuriyama, vice chairman and chief executive officer of A&B Properties. "This investment also builds on one element of that overall strategy - developing projects in joint ventures with capable partners of high integrity." This investment is A&B Properties' 20th investment in Hawaii real estate outside of A&B's core landholdings in the last five years, and its sixth joint venture since 2001.

A&B Properties Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Investments Mike Wright said, "The Kona Coast is exhibiting tremendous strength in the resort housing market, and we are particularly pleased to enter that market with a partner like Brookfield Homes. The combined expertise of A&B Properties and Brookfield Homes will ensure the successful creation of a premiere, new golf course-front community. This particular site within Mauna Lani is very special, and fronts some of the most attractive fairways within the resort."

Brookfield's President Jeffrey Prostor said, "With the recent success of our Coconut Plantation project at Ko Olina Resort, we were looking to expand our presence in Hawaii. We admired A&B's development efforts throughout the islands and strongly believe in working with them on the opportunity to develop another project in a preeminent Hawaii resort community."

About Mauna Lani Resort

The Kohala Coast is a 20-mile stretch of coastline interspersed with eight luxury hotels set in four distinct resort areas. The rugged volcanic coastline is known for its beautiful beaches and world class golf. The Mauna Lani Resort is a master planned destination resort located approximately 22 miles from the Kona International Airport. The 3,200-acre resort includes two hotels - the 539-room Fairmont Orchid at Mauna Lani and 350-room Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows - and two championship golf courses. Encompassing three miles of coastline, the resort has numerous coves and four beautiful sandy beaches. The development parcel has undulating topography, with hundreds of acres of conservation land abutting the golf course fairways, ensuring pristine views in many directions. It is located within a quarter-mile of the beach and the Orchid hotel.

About A&B

A&B's current landholdings total about 91,000 acres in Hawaii, making the company the fourth largest private landowner in the State. A&B was the developer of the world-renowned Wailea Resort, a 1500-acre master-planned resort community on Maui's sunny southern coast. A&B sold the Resort in 1989 and, in 2003, re-acquired the Resort's remaining 270 acres of residential-zoned, undeveloped land. Another major A&B residential resort development is the 1,000-acre Kukui'Ula project in the Poipu region on the island of Kauai, where between 1,200 to 1,500 high-end residential units are planned to be developed in a joint venture with DMB Associates, a Scottsdale, AZ-based developer of large master planned residential communities on the West Coast.

A&B Properties is a developer and owner of commercial and residential properties, and is the State's most active real estate investor. The Mauna Lani property is A&B's 20th Hawaii acquisition or investment outside of its core landholdings since 1998; these acquisitions represent a total capital investment of over $400 million. A&B's income portfolio includes over 5 million square feet of commercial space in Hawaii and on the West Coast.

Additional information on A&B Properties can be found at its website: www.abprop.com.

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (A&B), headquartered in Honolulu, is engaged in real property development and management through its subsidiary A&B Properties, Inc.; in transportation through its subsidiaries Matson Navigation Company, Inc. and Matson Integrated Logistics, Inc.; and in food products through Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company and Kauai Coffee Company, Inc. Additional information about A&B may be found at its web site: www.alexanderbaldwin.com

About Brookfield Homes Corporation.

Brookfield Homes Corporation is a publicly-traded residential homebuilder and land developer, and is one of the 20 largest homebuilders in North America. Brookfield's existing portfolio includes 21,000 lots in various California markets and in northern Virginia, with regional offices in San Francisco, Orange County/LA, San Diego/Riverside, Sacramento and Virginia.

Brookfield is nearing completion of its first Hawaii project, the Coconut Plantation, a 270-unit townhome project in the Ko Olina Resort; the company will manage this new project from its Hawaii regional office which operates as Brookfield Homes Hawaii, Inc.

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking" statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties such as those described on page 21 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is incorporated in the Company's 2003 annual report to shareholders. These factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the statements.

CONTACT:
A&B
Kris Kobayashi, 808-525-6641
kkobayashi@abinc.com
or
Brookfield Homes
Jeffrey Prostor, 714-200-1511
JProstor@brookfieldsouthland.com

SOURCE: Alexander & Baldwin