‘Nobody Knows What’s Going On’: Kalihi Is Transforming Despite Uncertainty About Rail Commercial property values have spiked along the rail line since the tax to build the project went into effect. But rail didn’t create that new value, local analysts say.
Right down the street from Honolulu’s giant, unfinished concrete-and-steel rail pathway – and not far from the barbed-wire fences of Oahu’s largest, crumbling jail – lies Kutthroat Barbershop.
Business is literally booming at the popular Kalihi business, which opened six years ago at Dillingham Boulevard’s western end. Loud music and lively chatter typically fill the joint as stylists meticulously trim their clients’ hair. Owner Kalolo Tuihalafata described Kutthroat as a labor of love, a way to benefit the community he grew up in.
But Kutthroat likely will have to move soon – and it’s not clear whether the new location will be in Kalihi. Currently, it’s the only tenant in its building, at 2028 Dillingham. Other businesses, including a restaurant and payday loan service, either left or failed to stay afloat, Tuihalafata said.
