Lease rent disputed
for Kam Drive-In
Consolidated Amusement and
By Rick Daysog
Bishop Estate differ on how the value
of the land should be assessed
Star-BulletinLease rents for the Kam Drive-In, the last of Hawaii's drive-in theaters, are headed for arbitration. The Aiea theater's operator, Consolidated Amusement Co., and landlord Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate haven't been able to reach an agreement in rent renegotiation talks.
Both sides said they hope to work out terms of a new rent agreement for the 12-acre parcel but declined to disclose specific rent proposals.
Phil Shimmin, Consolidated's president, said his company wants its rent to be based on the property's current use as a drive-in while the estate is looking for rents based on the "highest and best use," meaning that rents should be based on the greatest return that the property could fetch.
In a typical arbitration, the landlord and the lessor each select a real estate expert to serve on the arbitration panel. The two would then select a third arbitrator who would help them set an appraisal value for the property.
Under a 55-year lease that expires in the year 2016, the Kam Drive-In's rent is renegotiated every 10 years. The rent was last renegotiated in 1986, when Hawaii's real estate bubble was getting underway.
The theater, located across from Pearlridge Center, also is home to the Super Swap Meet which operates three days a week. According to Shimmin, the theater and flea market employ about 60 part-time workers.
Completed in 1962, the Kam Drive-In is an anomaly in today's trend toward megaplex theaters and multi-million dollar retail entertainment complexes.
A byproduct the nation's love of the automobile during the 1950s and 1960s, most of Hawaii's drive-in theaters -- such as the Kapiolani, Sunset, Waialae and Kailua -- have given way to development.
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