The CHOI Group with Hawai‘i Life Brings The Best in Commercial Real Estate Services

Mark Storfer manages the commercial real estate division at The CHOI Group with Hawai‘i Life, a partnership that’s headquartered in one of Hawai‘i Life’s 14 statewide office locations, in the exclusive Kahala neighborhood on O‘ahu. Mark is one of about 100 commercial real estate professionals with active licenses across the state of Hawai‘i.

Originally from Canada, Mark moved to Los Angeles after college and he has been a U.S. resident for about 40 years, with 24 of them spent here in Hawai‘i. Mark gained the prestigious Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation in 2007, a marker of his expertise and experience in commercial real estate brokerage, leasing, asset management, valuation, and investment analysis.

The Current Commercial Real Estate Market in Hawai‘i

Mark notes that the commercial market has been steadily expanding in recent years. “Our primary industry driver is, of course, tourism. Our tourism industry has seen six successive years of substantial growth in Hawai‘i. We are expecting to set a new record this year, with more than nine million visitors to the islands in 2017. Tourism just keeps breaking records each year.”

This leads to a commercial real estate market that’s rapidly expanding in step with the tourism boom we’ve been experiencing, according to Mark. “New businesses are popping up and existing ones are expanding their brick-and-mortar footprint across the state,” he notes.

Commercial Services

Mark and his team offer their services not only on O‘ahu, but across the neighbor islands, as well. While the lion’s share of commercial transactions happen on O‘ahu, he caters to commercial buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants on all islands, keeping a busy travel schedule and maintaining relationships across the state. The bulk of commercial transactions are handled by just a few dozen tightly-knit commercial real estate professionals, with whom he works cooperatively to serve the needs of this specialized market segment.

The Choi Group with Hawai‘i Life provides specialized services across several areas of the commercial real estate market in Hawai‘i, for property types that include Retail, Office, Hospitality, Multi-family, Mixed Use, Land, and Industrial. These naturally include the full range of brokerage services, including commercial property sales, acquisition, and leasing.

The latter involve buyer/seller and landlord/tenant representation. Mark also offers exceptional property marketing, investment property sales and services, property valuation, consulting services and strategic advisory to businesses seeking commercial property throughout the state.

Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation

The CHOI Group with Hawai‘i Life boasts two CCIM designated pros – Mark Storfer and Patricia Choi. They are among an elite corps of just 7,500 designees across North America to have achieved this prestigious CCIM designation. Held by just 6% of approximately 125,000 commercial real estate professionals across the country, it’s considered the Ph.D. of commercial real estate. While Patricia Choi has turned her focus to exclusive, luxury residential real estate, she’s tasked Mark with managing the commercial transactions. As a testament to Mark’s dedication to commercial real estate services, he served as the 2012 President of the Hawai‘i Chapter for CCIM.

Business Acumen

With degrees in both Business Finance and Fashion Design, Mark is a highly experienced business executive. He held senior leadership positions with several high profile apparel and retail corporations before launching his real estate career. These have included roles at Hilo Hattie, Liberty House Hawai‘i, Guess Jeans, Inc. and Bugle Boy Industries.  

Mark is the President of The CKC Group, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in business management and corporate reorganization for both public and private sector companies. As a licensed real estate broker in Hawai‘i, Mark has also been active in several community organizations and professional associations. He has served as Chairman of the Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i (RMH), as Director of the Hawai‘i Visitor and Convention Bureau (HVCB), as Director of Smart Business Hawai‘i (SBH), and as Director of the Honolulu Executives Association (HEA).

It’s through these affiliations that Mark has built relationships and a robust client roster across the Hawaiian Islands. For example, the Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i – the state’s retail association – boasts 300 members and 700 brick-and-mortar business fronts. Mark maintains a client list that includes many of those local businesses. His exposure to multiple industries makes him a highly effective commercial agent, since he has a feel for the operations, needs and wants of his diverse client base.