About 100 businesses in two downtown Honolulu office towers could be displaced for roughly three to five weeks due to an equipment-related power failure at the property.
The twin 20-story tower complex Topa Financial Center fronting Ala Moana Boulevard across from Aloha Tower Marketplace lost power on July 23 after an air-conditioning chiller leak in the basement of one building damaged the electric system serving both buildings.
Initially the outage was expected to last for just a day, according to property owner Avalon Group. But now the company estimates it will take another roughly two weeks to restore power to an Ewa tower fronting Fort Street Mall, and about a month for the Diamond Head tower fronting Bishop Street where the leak and damage occurred.
“This is a trying time
for the tenants and we are trying our best to assist them while quickly working on engineering solutions for the building to reopen,” Christine Camp, Avalon president and CEO, said in a statement.
Camp said Honolulu-based Avalon, which owns the neighboring Davies Pacific Center office tower, has created a co-working hub in that building for Topa tenants that on Wednesday included roughly 100 desks,
80 offices and nine conference rooms at no cost plus free printing at Davies tenant Professional Image. Camp also plans to provide another 50 desks and 50 offices at Davies in the coming days.
Meanwhile, parking remains accessible at Topa for tenants, and Avalon is working to establish emergency power to run elevators and lights using generators at the property that cannot yet be run due to electrical system issues.
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Still, some Topa tenants, including retailers in an indoor promenade, face prolonged hardship.
Jan Park, the owner of Flowers for You, was devastated after she learned of
Topa’s longer than expected closure. “This is just a very horrible experience,” she said.
Park, who has run her flower shop in the building since 1987, threw out lei and fresh flowers on Saturday then returned Wednesday to remove potted plants from the darkened retail space.
Office tenants in the two towers include law firms, accounting firms, engineering firms and other professional service businesses.
Camp said Avalon has been able to accommodate all tenants who have requested temporary alternate space, including Bar Leather Apron, which is working to reestablish the bar on the ground floor of Davies, and Orthosports Physical Therapy, which has reopened within the indoor pickleball club Pickles at Forte in a former downtown Walmart building that Avalon owns.
Scott Barley, president of Furniture Plus Design located in an exterior ground-floor space at Topa, is making do where the office furniture dealership is after he and his partner spent about $10,000 buying 10 portable battery-powered generators to run company computers and a server in the showroom and workspace.
“It’s impacting us, but we’re limping along,”
he said. “We’re making it work.”