First Insurance Company of Hawaii chief on the company's growth, and the economy

For the Social Capital feature in last week’s print edition of Pacific Business News — subscribers can read it here— I spoke with Jeffrey A. Shonka, president and chief executive officer of First Insurance Company of Hawaii, for his thoughts on the insurance industry in Hawaii and what it’s been like in his new role (he became CEO about five months ago after Allen Uyeda retired.)

Our wide ranging conversation covered more ground than we had room for print, so I wanted to share additional parts…

Old Federal Reserve branch building in Seattle sells for $16 million

After two months and two days, the auction of the Federal Reserve Bank’s former Seattle branch ended at 1:50 p.m. Saturday with a high bid of $16 million.

The winning bidder was not immediately revealed, but it was not Seattle Public Schools, district officials said. The district planned to turn the building into an elementary. School officials said they will provide additional comments Monday.

It could be up to two months before the winning bidder of the historic property at 1011 Second Ave. is…

See inside: Addition of events venue breathes new life into Sutton Place’s 10th floor

The 10th floor of the Sutton Place building in downtown Wichita has a distinctively new look.

The 10,000-square-foot space has been converted to a home for Skyline Venue.

The past three months have been spent cleaning up a previously vacant area that was in a state of disrepair.

Owner Kim Sleiman says $100,000 has been invested so far in converting the space into an events venue that offers scenic views of Wichita’s city scape.

Some floor work still needs to be completed, but Skyline is essentially…

Oahu condo prices hit another new record in January

Home prices on Oahu soared in January, a traditionally slow month for sales, as the median price of a condominium hit a record $381,500, according to statistics released Saturday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

The median Oahu condo price was 19.2 percent higher than the median price set in January 2014, which was $320,000, and was 5.6 percent higher than the previous record median price of $361,250, set in December.

The median price of a single-family home rose to $675,000, a 7.2 percent increase…

Edmund Olson Trust buys 321-acre Greer Family Estate on Hawaii's Big Island

The Edmund Olson Trust has purchased the 321-acre Greer Family Estate on the east side of the Big Island for $6.25 million, the third highest land purchase in the area’s history, the trust said Friday.

Located along the edge of downtown Hilo near the Wailuku River and Pukihae Stream, the land, which was formerly owned by C. Brewer, was nearly developed before being voluntarily converted to agricultural zoning by David and Doris Greer, who planted thousands of tropical fruit trees on the property.

The…