Located to the right of Aliʻiolani Hale (as you face the building) and across Mililani Street is the U.S. Post Office/Customs House/Court House. As you may guess, the building has been used for numerous purposes since its construction was completed in 1922.
This three-story Spanish colonial revival building was initially used to house U.S. Federal Government offices and the Customs House in Hawaii. A new and larger building was built for Federal Government in the 1980's and the building was sold to the U.S. Post Office. The building was remodeled extensively.
In 2002 the State of Hawaii reached a deal for Par Development LLC, an affiliate of Denver-based RSD Corp., to buy the building from the U.S. Postal Service for $7 million, restore it, bring the interior up to standards and then sell 120,000 square feet of the 160,000-square-foot property to the state for $32.5 million. The U.S. Postal Service then bought back the rest of the improved space for $1.
The building has been renamed and is now officially the King David Kalākaua Building. David Kalākaua was king from 1874 until his death in 1891 but also served as Honolulu's postmaster from 1863 until 1865.
