community advocates have been pushing for its restoration for years.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s very exciting,\u201d said Kaimuki Neighborhood Board member Becky Gardner. \u201cThis is something the community\u2019s been working on for quite a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
CBRE said the property is being offered fee simple and as-is. The company did not include a listing price in its announcement.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s latest assessment valued the land at just over $2.8 million and the building for just $459,300.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Queen Theater has been a fixture on Waialae Avenue for nearly 90 years, and opportunities to acquire fee simple control of a property like this in Kaimuki simply don\u2019t come around,\u201d CBRE\u2019s Matthew McKeever said in a release.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be nice if you could get it for a good price and put a two-story building and have a great retail center or great restaurants because we can always use good restaurants in a place where we can all gather,\u201d said veteran real estate expert Stephany Sofos.<\/p>\n
Gardner has been working for years to get the owners, the Yu family, to sell or improve the property.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a way it just felt like we were getting played,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd now it seems like we can go here and watch a play. You know, it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city council pushed in November 2024 to have the city acquire the property, through eminent domain, if necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Queen Theater is a community treasure and neighborhood landmark,\u201d City Council Chair Tommy Waters said in a statement. \u201cThough it has sat inactive and in disrepair for decades, the Kaimuki community has never stopped believing it can be restored as a gathering place that reflects the neighborhood\u2019s character and supports the revitalization of the Kaimuki business district.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just last week, the city council approved up to $4 million to purchase the property.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the City is unable to acquire it, I hope any new owner will listen to the community, honor that vision, and become a true partner to the neighborhood,\u201d Waters said.<\/p>\n
While many in the community want to keep the familiar landmark facade, Sofos said the building will have to be torn down because of asbestos and other issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what are you going to build, another three-story center for the arts? That\u2019s going to cost you, at 15,000 square feet or 20,000 square feet — that\u2019s another $10 million,\u201d Sofos said.<\/p>\n
However, there remains optimism that someone will purchase the property and improve it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new owner, hopefully, will keep the history in mind and the will of the community in mind,\u201d said Gardner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere might be someone out there, a developer who says \u2018I\u2019ve got to be in Kaimuki, I have to bring it to the community. I\u2019m going to build a new structure to revitalize this community,\u2019\u201d said Sofos.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/LWVPWR5UCVC4PFYZUKCUNJJXKM.jpg\")
An archive photo of the historic Queen Theater on Wai\u02bbalae Avenue in Kaimuk\u012b.(Hawaii News Now)<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The historic Queen Theater property in Kaimuki is officially on the market. This is the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-264219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}