A self-storage entrepreneur whos active in the Hawaiian real estate market recently purchased prime oceanfront property on The Island of Hawaii (Big Island) for $7.7 million. Edmund C. Olson, chairman of A-American Self Storage, plans to use the Hilo, Hawaii, property build a destination location for weddings, business meetings and other events.

The property, Wainaku Executive Center, was purchased from the estate of John W.A. Doc Buyers, CEO of C. Brewer and Co. Olson plans to renovate the existing 12,000-square-foot, two-story building into a high-end restaurant, coffee shop and art gallery. Future plans include creating a convention center on the property and a small boutique hotel with 12 to 18 rooms.

Last year Olson, a Ka`u, Hawaii, landowner, donated $500,000 to The Nature Conservancy to support forest conservation on Hawaiis Big Island. The gift was specifically targeted at protecting the native forests of Ka`u and South Kona.

The Nature Conservancy is conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. Information can be found at Nature.org.

In 2010, Olson moved to protect more than 2,000 acres of Hawaii agricultural land from development by reaching a conservation easement deal with the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust. The land included more than 1,200 acres on the slopes of the Waianae mountains on Oahu and more than 900 acres in Ka`u.

A-American Storage Management is a family-owned self-storage company with facilities in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Missouri and Nevada. It has been in business for more than 35 years.

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