HONOLULU | Projects Thread

[Urbanguy]

Under Construction:

1-Hokua Tower: 40 stories @ 418 ft. (2005)
2-Ko'olani: 47 stories (2006)
3-Moana Pacific East Tower: 46 stories @ 400 ft. (2006)
4-Lanikea at Waikiki: 30 stories @ 300 ft. (2005)
5-215 North King Street: 23 stories
6-Moana Pacific West Tower: 46 stories @ 400 ft. (2006)
7-Ko'Olina Beach Club 2: 12 stories

*more to come!

Approved:

1-Waikikian Tower: 38 stories (2005)
2-Nine O Nine Kapi'olani: 35 stories @ 332 ft. (2007)
3-Ewa Tower Ward Village: 17 stories
4-Kulana Hale Apartments II: 15 stories
5-Keola Lai: 42 stories @ 387 ft. (2008)
6-Watermark Waikiki: 37 stories @ 350 ft. (2007)
7-Capitol Place: 39 stories @ 400 ft? (2007)

Proposed:

1-World Trade Center Hawaii: 31 stories @ 400 ft.
2-Puaena: 28 stories
3-Outrigger Beach Walk Tower: 350 ft.
4-2121 Kuhio Avenue: 28 stories @ 300 ft.
5-Kapi'olani Akahi C.C. Retirement Community: 26 stories @ 294 ft. (2005)
6-800 Nu'uanu Condominiums: 21 stories @ 220 ft. (2006)
7-Royal Kahili Tower: 16 stories @ 208 ft. (2006)
8-The Pinnacle Honolulu: 35 stories @ 350 ft - 400 ft?
9-Iwilei Elderly Housing: 13 stories
10-Donald Trumps Luxury Condo
11-Possible Old Honolulu Advertiser site Tower
12-3D Investments Condo Tower: 22 stories
13-A&B Kaka'ako Waterfront Residential Project Towers I: 20 stories
14-A&B Kaka'ako Waterfront Residential Project Towers II: 20 stories
15-A&B Kaka'ako Waterfront Residential Project Towers III: 20 stories
16-Centex Destination Properties - luxury beachfront mid-rise condominium at Ko Olina Resort & Marina - 247-units

*More to come!!

Dead:

1-25 stories Kaka'ako Project - the land owner sold the property, not sure what's going to happened to it now?
2-Pacific Quay Office Tower - The Pacific Quay project looks like it will turn into waterfront lofts instead of two towers.
3-Pacific Quay Hotel Tower

Under 12 stories:

Proposed (that I put together so far):

1-Waikiki Palms - 116 units @ 6 stories
2-Lofts @ Waikiki - 36 units @ 6 stories
3-250-room all-suite business hotel @ Honolulu Harbor @ 4-8 stories









-----
Portion of post below is the original post, portion above is an edited-in list of current era projects. . .
-----

Here are a few of the new residential projects getting busy in the HI-Town........

Hokua Tower - Breaks ground Friday 21 Nov 2003

http://www.permasteelisausa.com/image/exteriors/hokua1.jpg

Koolani U/C? or soon to be
http://www.koolani.com/images/montage_02.jpg

Lanikea U/C built by 2005?
http://www.waikiki-vacation-condos.com/LanikeaBuilding.jpg

Stay tuned for more,well as the renderings become available for other projects down here :)

[Matace]

They look beautiful, especially the first one. What other things are happening in Honolulu?

[Urbanguy]

^Theres a lot of stuff going on, however i only have a few renderings

Here's a quick rundown of stuff i've found for Honolulu so far....

Approved U/C:

1� Koolani
*400ft? 45 story - (370-unit) luxury condominium
>Set to begin construction Jan 2004

2� Lanikea >U/C (Completed by 2005)
*300 ft - (100-unit) two-bedroom, fee simple condominium development

3� Hokua >U/C (Completed by 2005)
*400 ft - (250-unit) luxury condominium

4� Waikikian Tower (Completed by 2005)
*38 stories

5� Kulana Hale Apartments II
*15-16 stories (162-unit)

6� Kapi'olani Akahi Continuing Care Retirement Community (Completed by 2005)
*294 ft

7� Moana Pacific - Evershine Residential Project I
46 story (350-unit)

8� Moana Pacific - Evershine Residential Project II
46 story (350-unit)
*Sales to start early next year. Construction as soon as Jan. currently awaiting permit approval.

Proposed:

1� Emerald Tower
*33 stories (230-unit)

2� Pacific Quay Office Tower
(200,000 sq ft)

3� Pacific Quay Hotel Tower
(250-unit)

4� Unnamed Project
(200-unit) - tower over looking Honolulu Harbor

5� Outrigger Beach Walk Hotel
*27 stories

6� Kakaako Project
*25 stories

7� 800 Nu'uanu Avenue (2006)
*220ft 21 stories (189-unit)

8� World Trade Center Hawaii (2006?)
*400 ft

9� Iwilei Elderly Housing
*13 stories
>Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i's (residential complex for the elderly) - near the old O'ahu Railway & Land Terminal building

10� 215 North King Street (Aala Site Condominiums) A
*23 stories - (251-unit) tower
>Downtown Affordables downtown residential condominium project


Thats what i have so far i'll be posting some renderings as they become available

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2003/Feb/21/business2.gif

Another
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2003/Sep/12/bz10map.gif

World Trade Center Hawaii 2006?
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2002/May/01/business1.gif

Koolina Beach Club - time share project
http://images.travelnow.com/hotels/condos/12239-pe1.jpg

Theres a bunch more but unfortunately a Construction Project thread that i created got deleted :( So a lot of info was lost

[Gulcrapek]

That's a hell of a lot of stuff. And it all pretty much looks great.

[Urbanguy]

Looks like the city is starting to put a little more love in to what they design/build compared to some of the stuff they built back in the 70s & 80s :nuts:

[M II A II R II K]

Hopefully that transforms the look of it's urban environment :)

[Urbanguy]

^I think these projects will really make a difference and another cool thing is that they will be mixed use so the retail, restaurants, and whatever else they add will add to the pedestrian experience and activity in the area

[CTroyMathis]

Fan-freakin-tastic. It's good to have you back down in Hono to give us the latest scoop. Thanks, lookin' good.

[Urbanguy]

^Your welcome, now hopefully as these buildings start to take shape i'll be able to go and take some pics and post their progress :D

[bobdreamz]

great thread Urbanguy...nice to see what is happening in Honolulu...like the first pic...it seems like a lot of cities that build residential highrises are starting to move towards the blue/green glass facades that is so popular in Vancouver now...less balconies (or mainly embedded ones) and more floor to ceiling glass giving it a smooth facade.
Any new tallest on the horizon?

[Urbanguy]

^Unfortunately theres no news of a new tallest :( because of the strict height limits, although i think that the two residential towers proposed right across the street from me are supposed to be the largest in the area so its possible that they may exceed 400ft which only two others have been allowed to do so, so far: First Hawaiian Center 429ft/438ft? & Nauru Tower 418ft

[Urbanguy]

Here's some other stuff i found....

Daewoo Residential Development (Leftside) - status unkown - Emerald Tower (Rightside pic) - Proposed 230 units
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/hitownhi/images/daewoo%20residential%20development%20&%20posec.jpg

Park Place Residential Development - status unkown
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/hitownhi/images/park%20place%20residential%20development.jpg

Unity Office Tower Complex - status unkown
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/hitownhi/images/unity%20house%20office%20tower%20complex.jpg

[Urbanguy]

Chinatown condo project moves forward
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2003/Nov/25/ln30a_b.jpg

A new condominium project on Nu'uanu Avenue in the Chinatown Special Design District is moving forward with the release of a draft environmental assessment today, but the developer says the odds of the tower ever being built are about 50-50.

Intracorp San Diego President Keith Fernandez said his company is still studying the feasibility of the project and went ahead with the environmental assessment so it would not lose any time in escrow with property owner Bank of Hawaii.

"The construction costs are high, and we are still trying to assess where the revenue will be," Fernandez said. "We are waiting for some revised construction numbers."

The Intracorp project is one of three residential high-rises in the planning stages in downtown/Chinatown, but all face either financial or planning obstacles and may never be built.

Bank of Hawaii, which had shelved its plan to build an office tower on the Nu'uanu site, has been trying for about three years to sell the property, which is valued at $7.7 million by the city.

According to the environmental assessment, the project, called 800 Nu'uanu Condominiums, would take up the entire one-acre block bounded by Smith Street, Nimitz Highway, Nu'uanu Avenue and Marin Street in the makai precinct of the Chinatown special district.

The 21-story building would have 189 condominium units with three-and-a-half levels of parking and ground-floor retail space. The tower would be 220 feet tall, 30 feet less than the 250-foot limit in the area.

The one- and two-bedroom fee simple units would sell for $300,000 to $600,000.

Fernandez said a decision on moving forward will be made in the next 60 days to 90 days.

Estimated construction time is about 30 months, with completion expected by mid-2006.

A public hearing on the project will be triggered when the developer files an application for a permit under the requirements of the Chinatown Special District, said Anthony Ching, of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, Urban Design Branch.

Another project has been proposed by a group called Downtown Affordables, which plans a 23-story building with 251 one- and two-bedroom units on North King Street where the 'A'ala parking lot sits.

The third project is a $35 million, 13-story elderly affordable housing residence near the historic O'ahu Railway & Land Terminal building financed through the state Housing and Community Development Corp.

Both developments could be killed or forced to redesign if a proposed expansion of the Chinatown Special District is approved by the City Council.

The bill seeks to expand the district by 20 acres into Iwilei, adding 'A'ala Park, the OR&L train station and the Tong Fat Co. building on North King Street.

The plan would reduce the building height limit from 150 feet in one area and 200 feet in another down to 80 feet.

The 800 Nu'uanu Condominiums project would not be not affected by the expansion and new height limits.

Downtown Neighborhood Board Chairwoman Lynne Matusow said there is a demand for more housing downtown but she would like to see some three-bedroom condos to encourage young families to remain in the area.



:)

[KevinFromTexas]

As if palm trees, black sand beaches, crystal clear water, mountains, waterfalls and perfect weather weren't enough you guys also have a mighty urban city over there too. ;)

[GRID]

Anyone who gets to live in Honollulu in one of those fancy towers is....eh...LUCKY. :-) (IMO)

[Inspire]

nice

[Urbanguy]

GRID If you have lots of cash you can feel lucky too ;)

KevinFromTexas, tell me about, but it was nice of you to remind me 8)

[Urbanguy]

^I just updated the construction project info. :D

[Urbanguy]

http://starbulletin.com/2002/06/09/news/arta.jpg

The Plaza at Punchbowl U/C
*6 stories (108-unit) independent and assisted-living rental condominium

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2002/Nov/16/business1_b.jpg

The Colony at the Peninsula U/C
http://www.pirealty.net/wpe7.gif

[PopYourColla]

Great work Urbanguy, I like almost every project going up in Hi-town.

[Urbanguy]

^Thanks, btw i agree i like most of the newer stuff set to go up, it should add more color and style to the skyline :D

[Stu]

Some nice stuff for sure but why the height limit?

[Urbanguy]

Well a couple of reasons that i know of is because the city does not want any views of the ocean blocked if your looking from the mountain or any views of the moutains blocked if your viewing from the ocean. :(

[Stu]

OIC, pretty crappy reasons huh?

[Urbanguy]

^Yep it sucks, but i really hope that one day the city council or whatever will raise it atleast in the CBD or Midtown area, i know that the developers of Honolulu's tallest First Hawaiian center tried to get the city to raise it to 500ft but they got shot down, however the city did allow the building to be over 400ft because of its design.

[Urbanguy]

New designer lofts for Waikiki

Urban Loft Development LLC, a Hawaii firm, is planning a new six-story, fee-simple residential community at 427 Launiu St. in Waikiki.


The community, to be called Loft@Waikiki, features 36 private two-bedroom and two-bath residences designed by architect Don Huang.

According to Huang, a team of young, progressive architects and developers worked together on the design, with the goal of developing a product for the urban lifestyle.

"Loft doesn't mean it has to be empty space," Huang said. "We're building the whole thing out in high-quality finishes. We have the highest-appliance groups similar to Hokua."

Huang is a principal of Urban Loft Development LLC, which is made up of various stakeholders that are under contract to buy six parcels of land measuring 30,000 square feet by February.

The Loft@Waikiki condos offer 12-foot ceilings -- up to 19 feet in the penthouse residences -- two arched windows each, art decor doors, porcelain tiles, wine refrigerators and contemporary accents. Units range from 1,047 to 1,096 square feet. Residents also can opt for curved walls between the living room and master bedroom or a floor-to-ceiling glass wall.

Each unit comes with two parking stalls, which are larger than required by the county, at nine feet and four inches wide. Huang calls them "hummer-style stalls." He also said the Loft@Waikiki will be the first test case using insulated concrete -- used in single-family homes -- for a commercial building.

Architect firm Collaborative Seven LLC designed the community and Kahala Associates will be the exclusive listing agent and principal broker for the project.

Prices begin at about $580,000, with sales beginning on Sunday at the Gentry Pacific Design Center, 560 N. Nimitz Highway, Suite 219. Groundbreaking is expected to take place in March.

Launiu St. is a short mauka-makai street, two blocks ewa of Lewers, within walking distance of the heart of Waikiki.

**I'll post renderings when they become available :D

***Mauka - means towards the mountain(s)
***Makai - means toward the sea/ocean
;)

[Urbanguy]

Here's the first renderiing of the loft-style condos for Waikiki
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2003/Dec/03/business2_b.jpg
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2003/Dec/03/business2.gif

[Urbanguy]

Kapolei amphitheater proposal awaits approval

A development partner of a proposed amphitheater in Kapolei said he is confident the city will grant a conditional use permit for the $18 million project by Dec. 22, allowing the 15,000-seat entertainment venue to open as early as next December or January 2005.

Terry Gallagher, a partner in Michigan-based Global Venue Group LLC, updated the project's progress yesterday at a meeting of the West Oahu Economic Development Association.

Global Venue announced its plans to build the amphitheater earlier this year, and made a presentation at a Nov. 19 public hearing on its permit application. A ruling is expected by Dec. 22.

With 8,000 covered seats and room for 7,000 more on a sloped lawn, the amphitheater was designed to fill a gap between 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium � too big for most acts � and smaller locations such as the Waikiki Shell, Blaisdell Center or Stan Sheriff Center, all with fewer than 9,000 seats.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2003/Dec/04/business2.gif

[Urbanguy]

Moana Pacific

The state yesterday approved a developer's plan to build twin 46-story residential towers on Kapi'olani Boulevard near McKinley High School.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2003/Dec/11/business2_b.jpg


:D

[bobdreamz]

Urbanguy I love those sleek elliptical towers (Moana Pacific) do you know who designed them?
They look alot like the BLUE & MIST towers here in Miami.

[rainbowVA]

I recently spent a week in Hawaii. I was suprised to see how massive downtown Honolulu was. The skyscrapers stretch for miles in the downtown area! I must say downtown Honolulu has more skyscrapers than many major US cities on the mainland. It almost resembles a smaller Hong Kong. The only thing I didn't like about the paradise was that traffic jam lasted all day on H-1. I spent 4 days on Maui and 3 days on O'ahu. My favorite spot was the little beach at Makena on Maui! I'll tell you why if anyone cares to know. ;)

[Urbanguy]

^Yep traffic is horrible here :( rainbowVA, btw i know why you liked the little beach at Makena haha ;)

bobdreamz, i have no idea who desigend them yet, :( but i will add updates when i find out, but it is a KC Rainbow Development project, if that means anything?

[rainbowVA]

rainbowVA, btw i know why you liked the little beach at Makena haha ;)



Have you been to the little beach? Me and my partner went to the far end of the little beach everyday on Maui:laugh:

[Urbanguy]

^Yes but i didnt venture to far in as i was a little scared at what i might see haha, although ive been to a couple over here :D

[Urbanguy]

Oh btw Rainbow did you manage to take any pics when you were in the islands, also i'm glad you got to enjoy your stay its a wonderful place 8)

[rainbowVA]

I used my camcorder most the time. I guess I can try to take snap shots from the video. The places we recorded include Ritz Carlton @ Kapalua(where we stayed), the road to Hana, the dormant volcano on Maui (I forgot its name), the lava field south of Makena beach, downtown Honolulu shot from the plane, Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center on north shore, and the waikiki beach. I am not sure how good the quality of the pics will be because it rained half the time. But I will try to post them if they look good.

Let me tell ya, the road to Hana is one hell of a trip! The scenery is simply breathtaking. Those narrow one-lane bridges are such a character! On the other side of the island, the lava field south of Makena beach looked eerily unearthly. We saw alot of people riding bikes downhill from the summit of the volcano on Maui; it looked thrilling. Our favorite spot was Makena beach. We went there everyday. The beach is beautiful, wide, clean, and more secluded. Btw, is half of Honolulu owned by japanese? Almost half the store signs are written in Japanese. There are tons of stores tailored to the jpn tourists! (not that there's anything wrong with that) The only spot where I didn't see alot of them was at Pearl Harbor :D

We made the trip because my partner had to attend a conference at the Ritz Carlton at Kapalua. His company paid for most of the trip :D We had a wonderful time and we miss Hawaii !!!

[Urbanguy]

rainbowVA, thats cool! Well as for HNL the Japanese are the number one market for tourists, Waikiki is heavily dependent on the high-end Japanese spender so signs in their language are up all over to help them get around so they can drop their cash. In fact more Japanese travel here then anywhere else in the world, this is their number one destination. The other islands dont really market themselves heavily to Japan which is good especially with the shaky Japanese economy. Also funny you should mention that because in the area i live in which is basically the Koreatown area it borders the Japantown area (Moiliili), anyhow in this are you can find signs that are tri-lingual to quadra-lingual (sp?) haha ie: (Korean, Japanese, English) or (Korean, Chinese, English) etc etc Theres another part of town where i think the city ended up creating an international style cross walk because of the high concentration of immigrants and i think there are little signs & pamphlets including Tagalog, Ilocano, Samoan, Laotian, Thai and Vietnamese, etc just for the crosswalk.

Anyhow its too bad that the weather was a little crappy when you were here its been raining off and on for most of the time ive been back here, but i guess its normal for this time of year, sunshine, wind, rain, ahhh but its warm ;) and today its sunny & beautiful again :D

[Urbanguy]

Harbor project revised to feature more low-rise lofts

A Dallas developer proposing to create a residential community with streetcar connections from Piers 2 to 6 at Honolulu Harbor yesterday estimated the cost of his ambitious project at about $360 million and said he'd like to have a development agreement with the state by July.

Ken Hughes of UC Urban also refined his master plan, eliminating hotel and office high-rises, :( and increasing the number of low-rise residential loft rentals from 250 to 550.

Hughes shared the latest details of his proposal with the state Aloha Tower Development Corp., which owns most of the property considered for redevelopment and is helping finance up to $200,000 of exploratory study costs as part of a preliminary agreement with Hughes.

The developer said he remains optimistic that he can overcome three otherwise "fatal flaws" � moving Hawaiian Electric Co.'s power plant, creating a downtown streetcar system compatible with city and state mass-transit plans, and providing parking for Aloha Tower Marketplace.

Other hurdles include arranging to use Coast Guard property at Pier 2, negotiating lease terms with the state and financing.

The agency board has one month to decide if it wishes to continue working with Hughes and start negotiating a development agreement.

Hughes said if he is successful, construction could begin two years from now at the earliest and take two years to complete, though the park could take up to six years because of the need to move the power plant.

Hughes broke down cost estimates for pieces of the project, dubbed Pacific Quay:

$224 million for three connected low-rise residential apartment buildings on top of 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

$19 million for two parking garages with 1,400 spaces, which would be owned by the state and on site and at Piers 1 and 2.

$30 million to demolish and clean up the power plant property.

$22 million for park construction, which includes taking the parking lot out of Irwin Park.

$54 million for a 2.4-mile electric streetcar loop connecting the project with the downtown business district.

$9 million to build a state Transportation Department Harbor's Division office building.

Hughes estimated that the project would create about 3,000 jobs and have a 10-year economic impact of $571 million.

Hughes said he is considering a range of potential financing options, including federal funds, business improvement district assessments, state bonds and tax-increment financing.

Fremont Realty Capital, a unit of San Francisco-based private investment company Fremont Group, has expressed interest in providing debt and equity financing for the project, Hughes said.

[Urbanguy]

This drawing shows the concept for a "Pacific Quay" near Aloha Tower Marketplace, presented yesterday before the board of the state Aloha Tower Development Corp. The project would include 550 loft-style apartments and 50,000 square feet of restaurants.

http://starbulletin.com/2004/02/05/business/art1a.jpg

[Urbanguy]

Ooh a possible 350 footer downtown? :D

Council to vote on Pflueger deal

Despite concerns that a written agreement for selling a downtown city parking lot is still being drafted, City Council members agreed to move the $10.5 million deal forward for a final vote Wednesday.


The Pflueger Honda dealership wants to move from Ala Moana to "Block J," a 2.4-acre site at Beretania Street and Pali Highway, and redevelop the property. The plan may include housing in a tower up to 350 feet high if financially feasible, the Pflueger Group says. **Sh*t if they can pull it off then yeah put your damn car lot their if not forget it!**

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Feb/12/ln37a.gif

Some council members question whether the project has been fully thought out, and want guarantees that Pflueger will include some public parking and landscaping and protect views.

City Corporation Counsel David Arakawa said he would incorporate such requirements in a written sales agreement, but gave no assurances it would be ready before the final vote to authorize the deal.

Council budget chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said the sale could be held up otherwise. "It would be hard to give final approval if we don't have these things cleared up," she said.

The city stands to net $9,680,522 from the sale after deducting fees for a real estate broker and other services. Officials say the money is badly needed. The current city budget assumed the property would be sold this year for $15 million, and holding up the deal would leave a bigger gap in city finances, budget director Ivan Lui-Kwan said.

"I don't think it means the collapse of the city, but I think it will have a significant impact," he said.

The city has been trying to sell the property for more than a decade. Earlier plans called for building subsidized housing for lower-income residents. Pflueger indicated that it may include market-rate condominiums in the project.

Some downtown residents and workers also worry the sale could increase parking headaches. There are 279 parking stalls on the property, including 202 with meters for public use and 77 for city employees. The lot is used heavily by deputy city prosecutors and others going to nearby District Court.

Pflueger's latest plan would include a parking garage with 100 stalls charging municipal rates for up to 12 years, and up to 100 more for long-term rental at market rates. Lui-Kwan said displaced city employees would receive stickers allowing them to park elsewhere.

[Urbanguy]

In fact in like the left corner of my avatar is sort of where the lot is located so it would be nice to see a 350 footer there!

[Urbanguy]

Here are a few other projects on there way:

Honolulu Design Center

http://www.hcdaweb.org/images/honolulu_design_center_large.jpg

John A Burns Medical School U/C
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=uh+medical+school/v=2/l=IVI/*-http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2001/Dec/16/ln01a.gif

The Waikiki Beach Walk
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts plans to add more retail and entertainment facilities to its hotel property on Lewers Street, in a multiphased project called Waikiki Beach Walk.
http://www.hawaiibusiness.cc/hb62003/images/62003makeovers1.jpg

Honolulu Fishing Village

http://www.hawaii.gov/dot/harbors/oahu/fish1l.gif
http://www.hawaii.gov/dot/harbors/oahu/fish2l.gif

[123elm]

All these condo towers must be very popular with Japanese investors.

[Urbanguy]

^Well back in the late 80s and early 90s but not really anymore their bubble had burst a decade ago and theyve sold most of their investments, its now mainly local, mainland, european, chinese, korean, etc investors.

[Urbanguy]

High-rise proposed for Waikiki

Yay another! 27-31 stories? Let's hope!

A Mainland real estate firm has proposed building a condominium or time-share high-rise at the 'ewa end of Kuhio Avenue, a project that would be another major investment in Waikiki but one that also is raising community concerns.

Belrad Group LLC of San Francisco and New York wants to develop either a 27-story apartment/condo or 31-story time-share building on about 2.5 vacant acres along Kuhio Avenue and Kalai-moku Street.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Mar/26/bz06map.gif

A developer's representative recently shared project plans with Waikiki Neighborhood Board and city government officials, who expressed a mix of support and concern.

"This will definitely be controversial," said Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association. "We were hoping for more of a commercial development on Kuhio Avenue, but certainly time-share could be more economically beneficial than a commercial development because it would bring more visitors here."

The project would require a zoning change from resort commercial to resort mixed-use.

Area residents expressed concerns primarily over blocked views and traffic.

A group of residents living in the nearby Four Paddle residential high-rise is trying to organize opposition to the project, referred to as 2121 Kuhio.

Organizers, going by the name Homeowners Committee for Protection of Waikiki Environmental Rights, have scheduled a meeting at 3 p.m. tomorrow at the Waikiki Community Center to discuss their concerns that the project will encourage construction of more high-rises and create traffic, air pollution, power failures and a loss of sunshine and breeze.

But other Waikiki residents, who said they sympathize with residents of the 25-story Four Paddle and the nearby 24-story La Casa condo whose views would be obstructed, say the developer could build an office tower or retail complex with similar impact under existing zoning.

"To me, it would be a nicer project than if they went up 300 feet with retail," said Bob Finley, neighborhood board chairman.

Finley said the board felt it would be premature to take a position on the project. Members have scheduled another presentation by the developer at the board's May 11 meeting.

City Councilman Charles Djou said that if city finances were sufficient, he'd love to condemn the property for a park, but the city doesn't have the money.

"It's sort of a game of chicken. If you tell them no they can't put up the time-share (or condo), they could say well then we're going to put up an office tower," Djou said, adding that keeping the property an empty lot is not desirable either.

City planning director Eric Crispin said the Planning and Permitting Department would support a mixed-use project that included restaurants and shops on the ground level of the building.

Belrad included a low-rise restaurant complex in its summary, but it was unclear how that component was integrated with the high-rise.

Belrad officials did not return inquiries seeking comment. Belrad's local consultant Kusao & Kurahashi referred a request for project details to a development official who did not respond yesterday.

The project site was once the home of Hula's Bar & Lei Stand and is occupied by an old banyan tree, which would remain.

The site is owned by K3 Owners LLC, which includes Honolulu-based development firm Honu Group and Lehman Bros., though one source familiar with plans said Honu is in the process of selling its stake in the property.

Honu and Lehman developed the luxury retail complex 2100 Kalakaua on the makai portion of the property, which is across Kalaimoku from King Kalakaua Plaza, another Honu retail project.

Honu had envisioned developing the 2121 Kuhio site into a third retail complex. Honu officials were traveling and unavailable for comment.

:D

So now its:

U/C: 5

Approved: 5

Proposed: 11

MSA Completed: 450 (432 in city) <-This according to SS.Com but i'm pretty sure there's more ;) 12+ buildings Anyhow, i hope this project works out and the NIMBYS stop whining and shut their F'king pie holes!

[Urbanguy]

Bam and another set to go under construction later this year!

The 32 story 909 Kapiolani Building

'Now is the right time to build'

There was no mad dash of prospective home buyers lining up to place early dibs on the latest high-rise condominium project in Kaka'ako recently, but units have been going fast at 909 Kapiolani.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Apr/09/bz04map.gif

Developers of the planned condo at the corner of Ward Avenue and Kapi'olani Boulevard quietly erected signs and a near-finished sales office recently on the site, which is still ringed by a chain-link fence.

Prudential Locations, however, has taken reservations and $2,000 deposits for nearly all of roughly 113 units that will be sold as a first phase of the 225-unit tower.

The response was not unexpected given the recent rushes of sales at other Kaka'ako high-rise condos, such as Hokua, Ko'olani and Moana Pacific, which generated overwhelming interest among buyers, some of whom camped for days to reserve a unit.

The 909 Kapiolani project is the more affordable of the four condos, with prices averaging a little under $500,000 and starting as low as $260,000 for one-bedroom, one bath units.

An agent with Prudential did not respond to requests for more sales information yesterday or Wednesday.

But project manager Hong Lee with developer Posec Hawaii Inc. said he was pleased that the long-delayed project is moving ahead just as Hawai'i real estate sales boom.

"Right now the market is quite strong, and the supply is short," he said. "Now is the right time to build this condominium."

The Posec project was initially envisioned nearly 10 years ago, as the South Korean subsidiary of Pohang Iron and Steel Co., now known as POSCO Engineering & Construction, bought the 1.3-acre property in 1995 for $12.5 million.

A downturn in real estate at the time shelved the plan, then designed as a luxury property called Emerald Tower. An alternative plan to move forward with a senior-living high-rise ended in 1998 because of trouble in the South Korean economy and a disputed impact fee calculated by the state.

Construction of 909 Kapiolani is anticipated to cost about $50 million, and begin toward the end of this year, Lee said.

The 32-story tower is designed with five decks of parking, a recreation deck and space for a street-level convenience store and a coffee shop-type of restaurant.

http://www.909kapiolani.com/images/01_build_img.jpg

Views

West http://www.909kapiolani.com/images/downtown.jpg
North http://www.909kapiolani.com/images/mountain.jpg
Easthttp://www.909kapiolani.com/images/diamond.jpg *towards my hood btw see them cranes those are two others going up!
Southhttp://www.909kapiolani.com/images/to_be_presented.jpg

:D

[JACKinBeantown]

Honolulu's population may be 902,704 but I bet at any given time there are 1.5 million people there (tourists).

[Urbanguy]

^It does feel a lot larger than the numbers suggest however i think its because of the density and the lifestyle, people here are always out and about all hours of the day and night as the weather is always nice and there are a lot of places in the city that are 24hrs, most of the tourist are usually confined to Waikiki and rarely venture to other parts of the city so unless your in Waikiki or parts nearby you don't notice tourists as much well except maybe when their on tours around the island but other than that its mostly island residents.

[Urbanguy]

Waikiki property on Kalakaua for sale could make way for some Condo's!

A Los Angeles investment firm has retained a broker to sell a large Waikiki land parcel that includes the popular Wave Waikiki nightclub, hoping to attract a developer interested in building a residential high-rise on the mostly vacant property.

A sale could lead to another condominium project in O'ahu's booming residential real estate market, relocation of the nearly 24-year-old Wave and add to the revitalization groundswell in Hawai'i's tourism core by improving a prime vacant site along Kalakaua Avenue.

The 2.2-acre site is largely fallow, with a parking lot, two empty low-rise apartment buildings, a big empty lot and the Wave.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Apr/29/business2_b.jpg

Real estate observers said timing is good for a sale to a residential developer, though two private lanes that run into the property but are not included in the offering could complicate a purchase.

The seller is Oaktree Capital Management LLC, a $28 billion investment fund that acquired mostly distressed assets in Hawai'i since the mid-1990s, including Turtle Bay Resort, a stake in former department store chain Liberty House and the mortgage on the Waikiki Landmark condo across from the site it is now trying to sell.

Oaktree acquired the property around the Wave for $12.6 million in 1995 from a Japanese firm, Japan Building Project Hawaii, that bought seven parcels from several owners for $38 million in 1990, property records show.

Oaktree acquired the parcel under the Wave in 1998 for $2.3 million from another owner. But two private lanes running into the site are owned by a local family named Chun.

The lanes, Pau and Makaoe, can be used by the surrounding property owner, but could not be built on unless acquired from the Chuns, who have entertained offers in the past to sell the access roads.

Joel LaPinta, a Hilo-based real estate broker marketing the Oaktree property, said a few prospective investors have expressed interest in the site, which has resort-commercial zoning that allows multifamily residential use but not hotel or time-share use.

LaPinta said he expects a buyer to be a residential developer given the intense demand for condos in Ho-nolulu and low interest rates driving home buying and construction.

There's a lot of new projects coming on the market, but I don't think the market's going to be disappearing, he said.

Ongoing condo projects being sold and under construction or preparing for construction include at least two in Waikiki and four in nearby Kaka'ako.

At least two more in Waikiki are planned, including a project on Kuhio Avenue at Kalaimoku Street and one on Lewers Street as part of a time-share/hotel/condo redevelopment project by Outrigger Hotels & Resorts.

LaPinta said he expects O'ahu's condo market to remain strong at least through 2007 or 2008 with help from baby boomers looking to simplify their living arrangements or buy vacation property.

They'll be at the cusp of their peak earnings and interest in owing second homes, he said. "It'll still be a good market."

Jack Law, a part owner of the Wave, said the nightclub has been on a month-to-month lease since early last year, but he's not thinking about relocation until his landlord makes definitive redevelopment plans.

I wish I knew what's going to happen in six months, but I know enough about real estate to know that you don't develop a property like this overnight, he said.

Law, a real estate broker since 1975, went through a similar process about seven years ago when a developer evicted his Hula's Bar & Lei Stand from its spot on Kuhio Avenue after 23 years to make way for what eventually became the luxury retail development 2100 Kalakaua.

Hula's moved to the Waikiki Grand Hotel on Kapahulu Avenue, and its old site is slated to become either a time-share or residential high-rise under recently disclosed plans.

I'm just grateful I'm here month to month, Law said. "I'm going to sit tight until I can't run the Wave from this location any more."

***Hmmm Progress i see many changes in the near future for Honolulu its gonna be an interesting next few years to see what will emerge***

[mthq]

lol whoa.. about 90% of this thread is made up of your posts! :D

great buildings btw.. im jealous ;)

[Urbanguy]

Yet Another!

Condo in plans for Hobron purchase

An affiliate of Outrigger Hotels & Resorts has sold a vacant Waikiki property to a California firm with plans to develop an upscale high-rise condominium. The move came after a local nonprofit, hoping to build a senior-living facility on the Hobron Lane site, backed out.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Apr/30/bz28chart.gif

Irongate Capital Partners, a Beverly Hills-based investment and development firm, recently bought the 3-acre site for $15.5 million, and said it is drawing up plans to build a high-end condo tower.

Rick Rosenberg, Irongate president, said he is hopeful the firm can begin sales in the next three to six months, and break ground in about a year.

We're putting all of our ducks in a row, he said. "We're moving forward right now."

Rosenberg said the Hobron purchase is the firm's first in Hawai'i, where Irongate had been looking at real estate opportunities for about six months.

Irongate's project enters a swelling field of condo high-rises in the works, including two others in Waikiki and four more in nearby Kaka'ako with more than 1,500 units coming on the market that is also flush with demand.

The Irongate site is one of four contiguous parcels once promoted as a home for the Convention Center. Outrigger put the parcels up for sale in 2000 to help raise cash for reinvestment in its core resort properties.

Outrigger sold two of the parcels containing the 136-unit Ohana Ala Wai Towers hotel and 47-unit Ala Wai Terrace apartments three years ago to local developer Peter Savio.

A third parcel, containing the 144-unit leasehold apartment building Tradewinds Mauka, has yet to be sold.

Before Irongate bought the vacant 3-acre parcel, it was sold in January 2003 for $13 million to Honolulu Neighborhood Housing Services Inc., a nonprofit that partnered with local developer Donald Graham and planned to build a 26-story, $113 million apartment tower for up to 275 seniors.

Graham acquired the property after an unsuccessful effort to develop the retirement complex on part of the Ke'eaumoku superblock on which Wal-Mart is building Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores.

Rep. Dennis Arakaki, who is executive director of Honolulu Neighborhood Housing, said the nonprofit had state authorization to sell $80 million in special-purpose revenue bonds to help finance the project, but financing could not be completed.

There was a lot of interest in (the project), but the financing just didn't come through, he said. "It's too bad."

Honolulu Neighborhood Housing sold the parcel back to Outrigger in February for the same price it paid. Arakaki said the nonprofit, which focuses on developing low-income rental homes, had hoped the senior-living project would generate income to further its main mission, but that there are no prospects to revive the project.

:P

So thats um its:

5 U/C in the metro 2 in the burbs 3 in the city
5 Approved
12 Proposed *we may even see 2 more proposals soon with another lot up for sale in Waikiki and another just sold Downtown.

We be coming up! YAY!!!! Honolulu's picking up the pace and working that thang like a mo fo!

[Urbanguy]

hehe mthq, i know i get no love but i dont mind talking to myself! People are sleepin' on this city man if they only knew! ;)


Anyhow, gosh we need to work on some Alaska stuff to!

[mthq]

ahhh! now I'm even more jealous! (refer back to the last post on Page 2 ;) )

damn mofo's!

[Urbanguy]

haha yeah we are starting to go thru a boom, Honolulu is gonna take off real soon with all these projects poppin up all the time and the good thing about it is that many of them are residential projects that are primarily located in the city (equaling less sprawl - keepin peeps in town) which will give the city pop a nice boost, continue to densify and add even more vibrancy to this already vibrant city. :D I'm luvin it.

[Chad]

Well....I believe there are lots of construction over there..:)

[Urbanguy]

^Hehe and your belief is right! :D

[Urbanguy]

Okay here's a project update rundown of what i have so far:

U/C:

In The City

1� Koolani >U/C (Completed by 2006)
*400ft? 47 story - (370-unit) luxury condominium

2� Lanikea >U/C (Completed by 2005)
*300 ft 25 story - (100-unit) two-bedroom, fee simple condominium development

3� Hokua >U/C (Completed by 2005)
*418 ft 40 story - (250-unit) luxury condominium

In The Burbs

4� Marriott's Ko'Olina Beach Club Tower 1 >U/C (Completed by 2004?)
*12 stories

5� Marriott's Ko'Olina Beach Club Tower 2 >U/C (Completed by 2004?)
*12 stories

Approved:

1� Waikikian Tower (Completed by 2005)
*38 stories

2� Kulana Hale Apartments II
*15-16 stories (162-unit)

3� Kapi'olani Akahi Continuing Care Retirement Community (Completed by 2005)
*294 ft 26 stories

4� Moana Pacific Tower I
46 story (350-unit)

5� Moana Pacific Tower II
46 story (350-unit)
*Sales to start early next year. Construction as soon as Jan. currently awaiting permit approval.

Proposed:

1� Nine O Nine Kapiolani (once known as Emerald Tower)
*32 stories (230-unit)

2� Pacific Quay Office Tower
(200,000 sq ft)

3� Pacific Quay Hotel Tower
(250-unit)

4� Unnamed Project
(200-unit) - tower over looking Honolulu Harbor

5� Outrigger Beach Walk Hotel
*27 stories

6� Kakaako Project
*25 stories

7� 800 Nu'uanu Avenue (2006)
*220ft 21 stories - (189-unit)

8� World Trade Center Hawaii (2006?)
*400 ft

9� Iwilei Elderly Housing
*13 stories
>Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i's (residential complex for the elderly) - near the old O'ahu Railway & Land Terminal building

10� 215 North King Street (Aala Site Condominiums) A
*23 stories - (251-unit) tower
>Downtown Affordables downtown residential condominium project

11� 2121 Kuhio Avenue
*27 stories

12� Hobron Condominium Project (more info yet to be released by Irongate Capital Partners)

**Two others are possible I will post updates as I receive more info!

[Urbanguy]

Builders to begin Waikiki face lift

A 350 foot sky-reaching tower is just one piece of the $800 million plan

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/May/07/bz08map.gif

After nearly a decade in the making, what's old will soon become new again.

A joint venture announced yesterday between Outrigger Enterprises Inc. and kamaaina developer Richard Gushman, co-developer of the Waikele Shopping Center, will start the demolition ball moving to make way for a planned $800 million Waikiki Beach Walk Project.

The project, scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2005 and be completed in 2007, will turn an aging and congested portion of central Waikiki into a combination of new and refurbished vacation ownership and hotel accommodations. As part of the project, six low- to midrise hotels will be replaced with a single sky-reaching tower, expanses of open space and an old-Waikiki-themed complex of shops, restaurants and entertainment.

David Carey, president and CEO of Outrigger Enterprises, enjoys the Waikiki view from the balcony of the Sunset Terrace Restaurant in the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel.
http://starbulletin.com/2004/05/07/news/art3a.jpg

"This project is very significant because it will reposition an untouched portion of Waikiki," said David Carey, president and chief executive officer of Outrigger Enterprises. "It's been our dream for more than 10 years."
Outrigger began plans to redevelop the 7.7-acre site, which stretches along Saratoga Road, Lewers Street and Kalia Road, in the early 1990s to make it more appealing to guests and to attract new business, Carey said.

"We want this to be a fun, happening place with a family atmosphere that will appeal to both tourists and locals," Carey said.

But it took improved financial conditions, an influx of capital and experience from the right partner to get Outrigger's plans off the ground, Carey said.

"(Gushman's) knowledge of Hawaii's retail market and experience as a developer will help us take the next step toward revitalizing Waikiki," he said.

The first phase of the project, which begins next year, calls for the demolition of three 1950s-era hotels -- the Ohana Edgewater, the Edgewater Lanais and the Ohana Coral Seas -- to make way for a 100,000 square-foot entertainment and retail complex that will front an open plaza on Lewers Street. Outrigger will also renovate the Ohana Reef Towers, turning the 480-room hotel into 193 time-share units.

The second phase of the project, tentatively set for 2007, calls for the demolition of three more hotels: the Ohana Reef Lanai, the Ohana Royal Islander and the Malihini Hotel. These properties will be replaced with a 350-foot tower resort condominium.

Gushman will be in charge of developing the project's retail and entertainment space. Barbara Campbell, vice president of retail development and leasing for Outrigger Enterprises, will serve as the joint venture's leasing director, and Kaolin Corp. will serve as the project broker.

Although an architect has not been named to the retail project, Gushman said he is already seeking tenants for this Waikiki resurgence.

"We are anxious to bring the area alive with restaurants and shops that will appeal to residents and visitors alike," Gushman said. "We want to make this an experience not common outside of Hawaii."

The retail mix will be about 60 percent restaurants and bars, with the remaining space devoted to impulse retail featuring Hawaii products, among other things, Carey said.

[Urbanguy]

YAY! Chinatown projects to proceed

After eight months of delays, the city has agreed to move forward with a bill to allow loft space in historic Chinatown and to drop an unpopular companion measure that would have expanded the Chinatown Special District and imposed building height restrictions.

The action comes after the administration won concessions from developers on two pending projects.

Bill 43 has deleted all provisions relating to expansion of the special district, which had been opposed by developers, community groups and the city Planning Commission. It now only amends city ordinances to allow residential lofts in the historic core of Chinatown.

The bill will be discussed at the City Council's Zoning Committee meeting June 22.

The Planning Commission rejected the expansion plan in September, and since then all plans for building a private affordable condominium project, a state elderly affordable housing residence and developing any lofts to foster a culture and arts district in the area have been on hold.

"Now that the ideas are separated, the lofts can move forward," said Rich Richardson, a member of the Nu'uanu Merchants Association. "For eight months we have been holding our breaths. Now that it is free, I don't see too much resistance."

Vito Galati, a partner in Downtown Affordables, said his 23-story, 251-unit affordable condominium project is sold out and he can finally move forward with construction. The project was within the special district expansion and would not have been allowed under proposed height restrictions.

"We have submitted a foundation permit and expect it to be issued any day now," Galati said. "We've had a lot of discussions with the city and we have worked closely with them. We have made some changes to our project to accommodate their desires."

Galati said the complex, located next to A'ala Park on North King Street, will now have a "retail/commercial presence" on the King Street side but the height is unchanged.

"We are now in a situation where we are happy with the design and they are happy with the design and we are expecting the permits will be issued any day now," he said.

City planning and permitting director Eric Crispin last year said an expanded district would reduce height limits to preserve the view plane and create an appropriate entryway into Chinatown. At that time, he said that both Galati's project and the state's senior project were unsuitable for the area in terms of how they were designed, although both met established zoning requirements.

Ben Lee, city managing director, said that after hearing comments at public hearings and the Planning Commission, Mayor Jeremy Harris sent the bill back to Crispin to address some of those concerns.

"(Harris asked) to see if it was necessary to expand the district or not," Lee said. "We were concerned about a big high-rise building coming up and the mayor told Eric to work with them to meet the goals and objectives of the special district.

"Once those revisions were made and the developer basically agreed to provide retail space on the ground floor enhancing King Street, we said let's just move forward with the loft because that has a lot of interest."

Marvin Awaya, executive director of Pacific Housing Assistance Corp., said his company has been selected to develop the 15-story elderly affordable housing residence near the OR&L building for the Housing and Community Development Corp.

Awaya said only minor changes were needed for their project and as soon as construction drawings are completed, the project will be put out to bid.

"The fact that two projects were going up at the same time in the (city's) view would have changed the character of Iwilei, (and) may have contributed to that delay," Awaya said. "It's back on track now."

[Urbanguy]

Here's a list of projects for my part of town
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jun/13/localnews1.gif

[Urbanguy]

Construction for Moana Pacific to begin this fall

With both towers nearly sold out, Moana Pacific plans to begin construction of its luxury condominium project in September.


Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company Inc. has been selected by KC Rainbow Development LLC as the general contractor.

"We are proud to be working with Hawaii Dredging," said Fred Chan, general manager of KC Rainbow. "They bring a wealth of experience to a project of our size."

Two oval-shaped towers offering 706 units are planned for a six-acre site at Kapiolani Boulevard and Piikoi Street.

Prospective buyers can register for an owner-occupant lottery for the East Tower until 6 p.m. Saturday, with a $3,000 mandatory deposit. The lottery will be held Tuesday, June 22.

Only two penthouses are left in the West Tower. Due to strong sales, KC Rainbow will begin construction on the West Tower first.

"The strength of the demand in the market is very pleasantly surprising for us," said project manager Allen Leong. "The demand is so strong we could move up the start date on construction of the second tower."

Prices for fee-simple one-bedroom units start at about $350,000, while two-bedroom units range from $450,000 to $580,000.

Three-bedroom condos range in price from about $600,000 to $800,000. Units can be combined for $1.5 million and above.

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties is handling sales.

The contemporary-style condos feature floor-length glass windows and a community putting green, tennis courts and jogging track.

The project is among four high-rise condominiums planned in Kakaako.

http://www.moanapacifichawaii.com/flash_images/PER-SHEET-3-700px-web.jpg

[Urbanguy]

Aloha Tower proposal reshaped

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jun/19/business2.gif

A Dallas developer planning a roughly $300 million remake of state property around Aloha Tower wants to sell condominiums above what may be ceded lands and build a downtown bypass tunnel under Nimitz Highway to make the project more feasible.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jun/19/business2_b.jpg

Ken Hughes of UC Urban also proposed sharing costs and profits with the state, and rebuilding the Pier 10 cruise ship terminal as part of project revisions presented yesterday to the state Aloha Tower Development Corp. board.

The changes create new hurdles for the ambitious plan, which the state agency has pursued with Hughes since requesting proposals in late 2002 and choosing to work with the experienced developer in February 2003.

Hughes' core concept is a residential loft community at Honolulu Harbor connected with a downtown streetcar system and ferry terminal.

The project, called Pacific Quay, has evolved over the last year with the addition of the 2-mile streetcar system, elimination of hotel and office high-rises, and an increase in the number of residential lofts to 550 from 250.

Other elements in the plan include 1,400 parking spaces, removing the parking lot from Irwin Park and constructing a larger park on the site of Hawaiian Electric Co.'s power plant, which would have to be relocated and is viewed as the project's biggest potential "fatal flaw."

Despite the obstacles, Hughes and agency board members have been optimistic. And though yesterday's meeting raised more questions and challenges, there still was optimism that Hughes can succeed where others have failed in redeveloping the area.

"Everything that Ken has presented is accomplishable," said agency acting executive director Dan Orodenker.

Said Hughes: "I'm very comfortable. We're ready to push this thing to completion."

Among the several new twists Hughes shared, the most critical related to the project's residential component.

Previously, Hughes planned to lease the land at Piers 5 and 6, and build the rental loft apartments. Yesterday he said a more detailed financial analysis showed rentals could not work economically, and that he needs to sell the lofts as fee-simple condos.

For that to happen, the state agency would need legislative approval to sell land. There is also a question whether the Pier 5 and 6 area is ceded land, which would complicate the sale proposal.

Ceded lands are former Hawaiian Kingdom lands ceded to the United States on annexation and back to Hawai'i upon statehood. Native Hawaiians are supposed to receive benefits from use of such property.

Hughes' Honolulu attorney Jim Stubenberg said title records showed Piers 5 and 6 are not on ceded land, though some agency board members questioned the conclusion.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs information officer Manu Boyd said he needed to do more research to find whether OHA considers Piers 5 and 6 ceded land, but said in general that state harbors, ports and submerged lands are ceded.

Orodenker said the agency has asked the Department of Land & Natural Resources for a determination but has not received a response.

Stubenberg floated a possible option he described as a "lollipop condo" where four floors of parking and maybe some retail on Piers 5 and 6 would be owned by the state. Condos on higher floors would be sold fee simple and include common elements excluding the ground except for area taken up by an elevator shaft, which represents the lollipop stick.

Another plan change would add four new highway lanes under Nimitz Highway between Fort Street and the federal court building to reduce 80 percent of 'ewa-diamondhead traffic on the surface lanes that would remain.

Hughes said the underpass construction would create little disruption to traffic and would result in a more pedestrian-friendly waterfront.

"I really don't see a problem with that," said agency board member and Transportation Department director Rod Haraga, who added that federal money might be available for the work.

The last major project change would make the state a joint-venture partner. Under Hughes' proposal, the state would own and operate the public parking and streetcar system, generating what Hughes said was a conservatively projected $2.7 million annual profit.

The state also would earn 8 percent of condo sale proceeds that Hughes conservatively estimated would be $14 million, or 50 percent more than the property is worth today.

Hughes proposed he and the agency form a limited liability company, which the agency would need legislative approval to join because limited liability companies are fairly new corporate structures not addressed in agency rules that allow partnering with private companies.

To finance the project, Hughes is asking the state to issue $146 million in general obligation bonds as an investment in public benefits of the project. The balance would be financed through private debt and other sources.

Hughes estimates that the project would create about 3,000 jobs and would generate $600 million in economic benefits for the state over a 10-year period.

The state has already spent $210,000 and expects to spend another $83,000 as its share of less than half of project study costs under an agreement with Hughes that expires at the end of next month.

The next goal for Hughes is to sign a memorandum of understanding with the state and Hawaiian Electric agreeing to cooperate. "It's just a cooperative effort to see what's possible, recognizing that the state has a need to redevelop the waterfront area and Hawaiian Electric has a need to keep the lights on," he said.

Assuming the power plant agreement is reached, Hughes said he will negotiate a formal development partnership with the state, start lobbying the legislature in mid-August and with hope be able to sell bonds by March 2004.

If all goes well, construction could begin in about two years at the earliest and take two years to complete, though the park could take up to six years because of the need to relocate the power plant.

:P

[Urbanguy]

Growth Spurt

Hawaii�s hospitals are building big time

Ten years ago, Wahiawa General Hospital was at a crossroads. While it was state-of-the-art when it opened in 1944, the building had not changed much in 50 years. Neither had the hospital attracted patients from the growing nearby Mililani community. Knowing that health-care trends increasingly favored outpatient care, the hospital association proposed a radical solution: the Pacific Health Center, a 210-acre medical mall with a core hospital, surrounded by separate buildings ranging from specialty clinics to centers for diagnostics, office buildings and sports fitness facilities.

While not all hospitals have pursued such a radical tack, aging facilities, coupled with new technologies, availability of financing and increased patient demands have converged to fuel widespread construction. As of mid-May, Hawaii's major hospitals reported construction projects totaling almost $750 million in the pipeline, from parking-lot expansions to new hospital buildings. The $404 million Pacific Health Center-a three-phase, 10-year project scheduled to start next year-comprises the majority of that amount, followed by the $200-million Queen Emma Tower expansion at the Queen's Medical Center. Leslie Morse, project manager for clinical program planning, says Queen's was faced with the same challenges as Wahiawa General: "The last major construction for patient care was in 1985. Some of our facilities have been up since 1922. So it's an aging campus, and we need to keep up with patient demand as well as space requirements."

SPREADING OUT: Kaiser Permanente�s 87,000-square-foot Waipio Clinic, scheduled to open in Fall 2004, is being built to accommodate a rapidly growing Leeward Oahu population.
http://www.hawaiibusiness.cc/hb72004/images/72004Kaiser%20clinic.jpg

In addition to these large projects, Kaiser Permanente has a total of $42 million budgeted for two clinics under construction, and Hawaii Pacific Health has several, relatively smaller jobs comprising a total of $40 million across its four hospitals. Hawaii is not alone. A survey by the Healthcare Financial Management Association and GE Healthcare Financial Services reported that 75 percent of U.S. hospitals say they plan to boost capital investment, raising capital spending by 14 percent annually over five years.

One reason is population growth. From 1990 to 2000, Oahu's population grew by 5 percent, but communities such as Waialua grew by 22 percent, and Ewa by 18 percent. That rate is projected to increase statewide, according to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Between 2000 and 2015, the state's population is projected to increase by 11 percent, with Oahu projections at 9 percent, and the Neighbor Islands at 16 percent.

MODULAR MEDICINE: Plans for the $404 million Pacific Health Center medical mall in Waipio include a 72,900-square foot sports medicine and fitness center combining exercise facilities with physical and occupational therapy, cardiac rehabilitation centers, health education and physician offices. Courtesy of Pacific Health Community, INC.
http://www.hawaiibusiness.cc/hb72004/images/72004rendering.jpg

[Urbanguy]

La'ie (Honolulu suburb) to get $30M hotel

A property management company affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints plans to build a 200-room hotel in La'ie, the first hotel of its size along the Windward coast.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jul/07/business2.gif

Hawaii Reserves, Inc. expects to begin development of the roughly $30 million hotel near the Polynesian Cultural Center in late 2005, with completion of the initial phase planned by early 2007.

Catering to North Shore and area visitors, the hotel would replace the 48-room Laie Inn, said Eric Marler, Hawaii Reserves executive vice president and chief financial officer.

O'ahu has not had a new hotel built since the Kalia Tower at the Hilton Hawaiian Village was finished in 2001. The free-standing JW Marriott Ihilani Resort Spa & Golf Club at Ko Olina was completed in 1993.

Local hoteliers have said that financing new hotels in today's market make them less profitable than a new time-share building or resort condominium building.

But, Marler said, "the occupancy numbers have become much stronger in the recent months here on O'ahu, and we feel that for the mid-market type product that we're talking about that there will be adequate demand to support our investment."

As a "general rule," Marler said, Hawaii Reserves does not partner with outside investors and will finance the hotel construction internally.

The eight-acre site is zoned for hotel use. Four separate three-story buildings are envisioned. The hotel will have a banquet facility, a restaurant, swimming pools and a small North Shore visitor orientation center.

The company has begun applying for city building permits and hopes to finish the process within a year. Construction would then begin.

Until construction starts, the Laie Inn would remain open.

In the first phase, 130 rooms would be built. If the initial phase performs well, 70 more rooms would be added in the next two years.

"We feel that the North Shore has a lot to offer visitors as an alternative, perhaps, or in addition to their experience at Waikiki," Marler said. "A family might want to spend some time in Waikiki and then might also want to come out and have a multi-day experience on the North Shore."

Hotel rates would be similar to that charged by a family-friendly property like a Residence Inn, Marler said. Stays at the new hotel would be less expensive than the higher-end Turtle Bay Resort, which attracts many golfers and business travelers.

Marler said he does not expect the new hotel to compete with Turtle Bay and already has discussed his company's plans with Turtle Bay executives.

Hawaii Reserves is targeting tourists as well as administrative officials meeting at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, parents visiting university students, athletic teams, and participants in university continuing education programs.

The hotel would be promoted along with the church-owned Polynesian Cultural Center.

Hawaii Reserves hopes the new hotel will attract visitors who want to spend a few days visiting the cultural center and experience world-class surfing, scuba diving, and hiking.

"A lot of activities that you might consider 'outer island' activities are available to people on the North Shore," Marler said.

News of the new hotel was welcomed by the North Shore Chamber of Commerce's interim executive director, Antya Miller.

"We're all trying to get people to make this their destination and stay out here because we feel that a lot of people just drive around the island and they don't know what they can do out here," Miller said.

The hotel also would provide management training for BYU-Hawaii's travel and tourism education students.

While new hotel openings on O'ahu have been rare in recent years, a major project is in the works. Outrigger Enterprises Inc. is planning a $350 million Waikiki hotel redevelopment to include time-share, resort condominiums and a new hotel that could be a mix of residential condos, hotel condos, hotel units and possibly time-share units.

The retail and entertainment portion of the Outrigger project is planned for completion in mid-2007. At Ko Olina, plans are also under way to build a combination 250-room hotel and 150-room condominium managed by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co.

Others:

New law to ease housing 'crisis'

Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday signed into law a bill aimed at helping fill the need for an estimated 30,000 more affordable housing units � including 17,000 rentals � in the next four years.

Senate Bill 2926 increases the bond authorization amount under the Hula Mae Multi-Family Housing Program from $200 million to $300 million to spur the development and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing projects.

Lingle signed the measure at the site of a planned affordable rental housing project for seniors in Iwilei. The 155-unit Senior Residence at Iwilei is intended to help the same target audience as the new law.

New Life in Kaka'ako (Midtown) - A Future Life Sciences Community

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Kamehameha Schools is planning to kick-start a science-based development of its Kakaako land that could provide a shot in the arm to the urban district.

The plans represent a new Kakaako strategy for the state's largest private landowner, which owns some of the most strategic parcels in the area but has been criticized for failing to provide leadership on revitalizing the gritty neighborhood of bars, warehouses and car dealerships.

Officials with the charitable trust say it is their "fiduciary responsibility" to respond to the presence of the University of Hawaii's nearly completed John A. Burns Medical School and associated facilities, which were built in the district partly to serve as a nucleus around which Hawaii's young biosciences sector could coalesce.

"We thought it was an opportune time to look at our holdings in the area and we're committed now to being a major player in life sciences there," said Bob Oda, project manager with the estate's commercial real estate division.

No firm development deals are in the pipeline yet, but the $6 billion estate is applying for a special federal designation that would allow it to offer tax breaks to developers and other investors.

It also has brought together a steering committee of key financial, scientific and development players in the state and plans soon to announce a pair of "catalyst" development projects to kick things off.

It's about time, said Bev Harbin, a member of the Kakaako Improvement Association and frequent critic of the area's landowners.

"I used to have to hit them over the head and say 'do something!'" Harbin said. "But for the first time, I'm rather impressed with what the estate is doing. They're starting to walk the walk."

The estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, whose lands provide the income that funds the education of Hawaiian children, owns 52 acres in the heart of the 700-acre district, leased to a range of owners. Its holdings are less extensive than those of the state government and General Growth Properties, which owns Ala Moana and the various Victoria Ward retail properties. But Kamehameha Schools' lands are in the heart of Kakaako, spanning the mauka and makai sides of Ala Moana Boulevard.

These include parcels directly adjacent to the medical school. Now home to car dealerships and aging commercial low-rises, the trust hopes to lease these lands to developers and other investors that will build life-science research facilities and supporting commercial and residential developments.

The trust is putting together an application to have its area holdings designated a Community Development Entity under urban renewal legislation passed by Congress in 2000. This would allow investors to purchase equity in the entity and claim tax breaks of up to 39 percent on their investments.

The estate hopes the incentives, called the New Market Tax Credits, could reach $100 million and help to defray the high cost of building research-oriented space.

Ordinary office space generally costs around $300 a square foot to build. But Dr. Ed Cadman, the dean of the medical school an advocate of a life-sciences community centered around the school, says research facilities can run to $500 a square foot to build due to their special energy and ventilation needs.

That's a potential deterrent to developers, and the resulting local shortage is cited as a major impediment to growing Hawaii's life-sciences community.

"Think of Kakaako as a mall with the medical school as the anchor store. A lot of smaller stores are needed in that mall, too, but you need leasable research space or it won't happen," Cadman said.

The tax credits could provide a solution. State Act 221 technology tax credits are geared for investors with an existing Hawaii tax liability, limiting their usefulness for deep-pocketed mainland investors. But the estate hopes Act 221 and the federal tax credits together will bring in a healthy mix of both local and offshore investment.

"We want to provide the dirt and we let others come in with the capital," said Kirk Belsby, the estate's vice president for endowment.

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Joining Belsby and Cadman on the group submitting the community development application is Dr. Leroy Hood, one of the world's leading scientists in molecular biotechnology. Now based at Seattle's Institute for Systems Biology, which he co-founded, Hood's work in the 1960s and 70s set the stage for the eventual mapping of the human genome. He also helped start a number of successful biomedical companies such as Amgen, Applied Biosystems and MacroGenics.

Belsby says the estate remains committed to life-sciences development even if it fails to secure the tax breaks. It has commissioned a $500,000 study from Washington, D.C.-based New Economy Strategies, expected to be completed next month, that will identify the most suitable life sciences disciplines to target. Options could include plant sciences, marine biology and biopharmaceuticals. The findings will serve as the trust's "road map" for Kakaako.

"Even if we don't get the tax credits, we'll have a base of knowledge we can proceed on," said Belsby.

Various visions for Kakaako have come and gone ever since the state set up the Hawaii Community Development Authority in 1976 to oversee redevelopment in the area.

But hopes are rising now that a key private landowner is stepping up.

"I'm very optimistic. I really think something is going to happen now," said Sanford Murata, former director of the estate's commercial real estate division.

Hawaii's improving economy is a key factor in the trust's timing, Belsby said.

"The difference today is that the market has improved. The economy has strengthened to the point where it now supports this kind of thing. And we also now have an anchor project in the medical school," he said.

http://starbulletin.com/2004/07/11/business/art1c.jpg

Kamehameha Schools hopes to get the ball rolling later this year, when it will seek proposals for a pair of development projects viewed as catalysts. No specifics are available yet but the estate wants a research-use facility developed on the makai side of Ala Moana Boulevard next to the medical center, and a mixed-use commercial and residential development on the mauka side.

Cadman said any new research space is likely to be 100 percent leased up within six months, so great is the demand. He says a number of smaller California biotech firms already are waiting for space here and expects others to be lured by the cachet of a Hawaii headquarters.

But Pat Sullivan, president and chief executive of medical device-maker Hoana Medical, said it will take more than just new space. A concerted effort to improve Hawaii firms' access to funding also will be crucial. The company has offices nearby in Kakaako.

"There's a misconception that we need to attract companies to be transplanted here. What we really need is to build great companies of our own. That will provide the evidence that this is a good place to grow and do business," he said.

Timing also will be a key issue. Cadman said the earliest new leasable research space wouldn't be completed for about two years.

That may be too long, Sullivan said.

"Timing is the critical issue. Anything longer than that can have a profound impact on these companies," he said. "The technology business is so time-sensitive. It's critical that things get done quickly."

:P

[Urbanguy]

Okay here's another project update rundown of what i have so far:

U/C:

In The City

1� Koolani >U/C (Completed by 2006)
*400ft? 47 story - (370-unit) luxury condominium

2� Lanikea >U/C (Completed by 2005)
*300 ft 25 story - (100-unit) two-bedroom, fee simple condominium development

3� Hokua >U/C (Completed by 2005)
*418 ft 40 story - (250-unit) luxury condominium

4� 215 North King Street (Aala Site Condominiums) A
*23 stories - (251-unit) tower
>Downtown Affordables downtown residential condominium project

In The Burbs

5� Marriott's Ko'Olina Beach Club Tower 1 >U/C (Completed by 2004?)
*12 stories

6� Marriott's Ko'Olina Beach Club Tower 2 >U/C (Completed by 2004?)
*12 stories

Approved:

1� Waikikian Tower (Completed by 2005)
*38 stories

2� Kulana Hale Apartments II
*15-16 stories (162-unit)

3� Kapi'olani Akahi Continuing Care Retirement Community (Completed by 2005)
*294 ft 26 stories

4� Moana Pacific Tower I
46 story (350-unit)

5� Moana Pacific Tower II
46 story (350-unit)
*Sales to start early next year. Construction as soon as Jan. currently awaiting permit approval.


6� Nine O Nine Kapiolani (once known as Emerald Tower)
*32 stories (230-unit)

Proposed:


1� Pacific Quay Office Tower
(200,000 sq ft)

2� Pacific Quay Hotel Tower
(250-unit)

3� Unnamed Project
(200-unit) - tower over looking Honolulu Harbor

4� Outrigger Beach Walk Hotel
*27 stories

5� Kakaako Project
*25 stories

6� 800 Nu'uanu Avenue (2006)
*220ft 21 stories - (189-unit)

7� World Trade Center Hawaii (2006?)
*400 ft

8� Iwilei Elderly Housing
*13-15 stories
>Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i's (residential complex for the elderly) - near the old O'ahu Railway & Land Terminal building


9� 2121 Kuhio Avenue
*27 stories

10� Hobron Condominium Project (more info yet to be released by Irongate Capital Partners)

11� The Laie Hotel Project? hmmm

12� Victoria Ward Urban Village Apts - 218 units
*12 stories (Completed by Fall 2006)

**Two others are possible I will post updates as I receive more info!

I've also noticed many under 12 stories u/c two in my neighborhood alone. :D

Edit: added Victoria Ward Project... :D

[Urbanguy]

MORE...

Ward makeover: $100M Urban Village - Including a 12 story mixed use building 2 levels of shops, 10 above as rental apartments

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jul/28/bz02a.gif

Victoria Ward Centers will spend more than $100 million to add rental apartments, retail space and a new parking structure as it converts its Kaka'ako shopping complex into an urban village where people live, work and entertain themselves.

The plan calls for replacing the Ward Village shops, which include Starbucks and Kua 'Aina Sandwich Shop, with two levels of retail topped by 10 levels of apartments, and surrounded by a seven-story parking structure.

The ambitious development will be the center's biggest project since the $40 million, 156,000-square-foot entertainment complex with theaters, restaurants, stores and parking that opened three years ago.

"We already have a great mix of tenants, and this development will create a true live/work/play option for O'ahu residents and create a more vibrant street life," said Victoria Ward general manager Jeff Dinsmore.

"We're very excited."

The long-considered project would expand retail space at Victoria Ward's complex of shopping centers by a third to 800,000 square feet and alleviate parking constraints.

The new retail space will total about 200,000 square feet and will maintain Victoria Ward as O'ahu's third-largest retail complex behind Ala Moana Center and Pearlridge Center.

The redevelopment will retain Pier 1 Imports and incorporate an 1,100-stall parking structure and 218 rental apartments on most of the block bordered by Kamake'e, Auahi and the new Queen Street extension.

In addition to that project, a new 10,000-square-foot retail space will be built to replace the Tesoro gas station on the corner of Ward Avenue and Auahi Street and another 10,000 square feet of shops will be carved into Ward Centre's parking garage fronting Auahi.

Existing tenants of the 20,000-square-foot Ward Village will be moved to new shop space at the gas station or Ward Centre parking sites.

Redevelopment work on the gas station and Ward Centre parking shops could begin in January and be completed in the spring if planning and the acquisition of permits progress as anticipated.

The larger Ward Village redevelopment would commence after completion of the two smaller projects, and the new stores are projected to be finished in spring 2006, followed by the apartments in fall 2006.

Dinsmore did not identify prospective new tenants for the expansion, though he said some would be new to Hawai'i. Previously, Victoria Ward has said it has talked with Cost Plus World Market and Linens 'N Things.

The planned additions would be the first major change at Victoria Ward since General Growth Properties bought the property in May 2002 for $250 million.

Previous owners had considered such an expansion as part of their vision to transform the sprawling property of retail centers, warehouses and offices into a "live/work/play" neighborhood where people can walk from their homes to work, dine out, go to a movie and shop.

General Growth, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust that owns Ala Moana Center, had been reassessing the plans since its purchase of Victoria Ward.

Meanwhile, the urban village vision of a two-block Main Street surrounded by a residential community began to materialize with the development of the Hokua luxury high-rise condominium on the diamondhead end of the property and another on a neighboring site.

Dinsmore said there has been strong demand for rental apartments as well as for parking, which at times has been tight and an issue for some retailers.

"The success of our developments down here have made parking a challenge," he said. "We are always looking for ways to make Victoria Ward an even more customer-friendly destination for shopping, dining and entertainment."


Ward Village, the complex of shops across Auahi Street from Ward Centre, will be replaced with two levels of retail topped by 10 levels of apartments, and surrounded by a seven-story parking structure.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jul/28/bz02b_b.jpg

[Urbanguy]

Ward Village Shops across from Ward Centre was shown yesterday in this overview photo. Plans are under way to revamp the area with more retail shops as well as residential rentals.

http://starbulletin.com/2004/07/28/news/art1a.jpg

http://starbulletin.com/2004/07/28/news/art1b.jpg

[Urbanguy]

Pier 2 getting big makeover

Two state agencies are undertaking multimillion-dollar face-lifts at Honolulu Harbor's Pier 2 that could have the industrial-looking area bustling with more tourists and business activity.

On the mauka side of Pier 2, the Foreign Trade Zone 9 facility, an incubator for import-export firms, will be gaining 40,000 square feet of office space and 4,000 square feet of warehouse space.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jul/30/bz06a_b.jpg

The Transportation Department expects to open bids next week on a project to convert the makai side of the pier into a more passenger-friendly terminal for increasing cruise-ship arrivals. That project is expected to cost $15 million to $25 million.

Meanwhile, the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism has started work to improve its cavernous Foreign Trade Zone 9 facility on the other end of the pier.

Ultimately, DBEDT wants to add more than 40,000 square feet of office space and 4,000 square feet of warehouse space to the zone, which has served as an incubator for many local import-export firms for more than 35 years.

The two projects, along with a proposed private residential-commercial development in the area, could combine to dramatically raise the public profile of Pier 2, where up to now many small businesses have operated quietly and arriving cruise-ship passengers have sometimes had to dodge stray forklifts and use port-a-potties.

"It's going to spruce up the area, make security tighter and help separate the two uses," said Mark Anderson, the trade zone administrator.

The cruise terminal work will include a new reception concourse, elevator, escalator, restrooms, air conditioning and lighting, security and safety improvements.

The warehouse space at Pier 2 has served in recent years as a cruise terminal when more than one large ship is in port, said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jul/30/bz06chart.gif

The new improvements are designed to give arriving and departing passengers an experience more like the ones their fellow travelers receive at the main cruise-ship terminal at Pier 5 near Aloha Tower.

The $3.3 million first phase of the foreign trade zone expansion project includes construction of an additional 12,400 square feet of office space, 4,000 square feet of warehouse and more storage and maintenance space.

A second $6.8 million phase, planned for completion in 2007, calls for an additional 30,000 square feet of office space specifically focused on establishing an expanded hub for local and international trade organizations that could attract more international businesses.

An underused asset

The trade zone at Pier 2 is an underutilized gem that's been in existence for decades, said Timothy Wrath, president of Hawaiian Cooler Co., which has been there for more than a decade.

Like dozens of other users, the company, which sells portable coolers, rents space in the zone rather than acquiring its own private warehouse and office space, Wrath said.

"We benefit in a number of ways," he said. "First, you are charged only for the warehouse space you use, rather than having to pay for unoccupied warehouse space all time. That's a big saving."

Other advantages include having a centralized facility that offers quick access to government officials, customs brokers and shippers and rules that allow companies to pay duties only when their products leave the zone, instead of when they arrive.

"It's a shame that a lot more people don't know about it," Wrath said.

Patrick Lau, president of Savor Brand, a company that sells food packaging material, said he stumbled on the zone's advantages when he was setting up the business eight months ago.

"It's all about the location and having basically everything together, including warehouse, labor, electricity and office space management. It's pretty much a one-stop shop," he said.

"It's one of the best things the state has done."

Anderson, the trade zone administrator, said that's the kind of support that's drawing the need for expansion.

"There's an unusually high demand for the space among anybody that's involved in international trade," he said. "With the new space, we think we'll be able to attract even more people to the zone."

Other proposals

All of the improvements also come at a time when the Aloha Tower Development Corp. has been working with Dallas developer Ken Hughes, who has proposed a $360 million redevelopment project that would extend from Piers 2 to 6 and include up to 550 new residential rental units in the area.

Hughes has proposed using some of the existing open space at the foreign trade zone for Aloha Tower Marketplace parking and building a streetcar that would connect the entire area to downtown Honolulu.

Creighton Goldsmith, chief customs inspector for the U.S. Customs & Border Protection Office in Honolulu, said all the expansion is actually taking away space from the one of the area's biggest need: cargo storage.

"We've had a tripling of outgoing cargo recently and we're running out of space for it all," Goldsmith said.

He said he'd like to see an expansion of the adjoining Pier 1 facility, the primary shipping point for international cargo, but several other projects, including new car shippers, are competing for the space.

"There's no easy solution, but with all the increasing uses, something is going to have to give," he said.

[Urbanguy]

...yet another....

A&B plans another Honolulu hi-rise condo

*I will post renderings and updates as soon as they come in! :P

Alexander & Baldwin Inc. announced plans Wednesday to purchase a 2.7-acre parcel of vacant land to build another high-rise condominium in Honolulu.
Click Here

The property, comprising an entire block at the corner of South and Queen streets in the burgeoning Kakaako district, was purchased for an undisclosed price.

"We are extremely pleased to have secured this property and the opportunity to develop another quality condominium project in Honolulu," said A&B President and CEO Allen Doane. "The property is in a great location, within walking distance of downtown and in close proximity to numerous business and government offices, retail and entertainment centers and dining establishments."

He added that Kakaako was emerging as a "new urban village" and a place for people to live, work and play.

The developer plans to build a condominium offering more than 300 units.

Sales are expected to begin early next year, with construction targeted for late 2005. The units are expected to range somewhere between $450,000 and $650,000.

Four other high-rise condominium projects, Hokua, Koolani, Moana Pacific and 909 Kapiolani, also are planned in Kakaako.

Alexander & Baldwin is a partner in the Hokua project, being developed in a joint venture with the MacNaughton and Kobayashi Groups.

A&B also is building Lanikea, another high-rise condominium already sold out and under construction on Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki.

Kakaako M-P Development, the owner of the parcel, originally planned to develop a high-rise project in the early 1990s. After preparing the site, Kakaako M-P Development decided not to go forward. Since then, the property has been used as a parking lot.

Closing of the purchase is scheduled for late August.

Here's the location on map:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Aug/05/bz04map.gif

[Urbanguy]

Okay here's another project update 8/4/2004 rundown of what i have so far:

U/C:

In The City

1� Koolani >U/C (Completed by 2006)
*400ft? 47 story - (370-unit) luxury condominium

2� Lanikea >U/C (Completed by 2005)
*300 ft 25 story - (100-unit) two-bedroom, fee simple condominium development

3� Hokua >U/C (Completed by 2005)
*418 ft 40 story - (250-unit) luxury condominium

4� 215 North King Street (Aala Site Condominiums) A
*23 stories - (251-unit) tower
>Downtown Affordables downtown residential condominium project

In The Burbs

5� Marriott's Ko'Olina Beach Club Tower 1 >U/C (Completed by 2004?)
*12 stories

6� Marriott's Ko'Olina Beach Club Tower 2 >U/C (Completed by 2004?)
*12 stories

Approved:

1� Waikikian Tower (Completed by 2005)
*38 stories

2� Kulana Hale Apartments II
*15-16 stories (162-unit)

3� Kapi'olani Akahi Continuing Care Retirement Community (Completed by 2005)
*294 ft 26 stories

4� Moana Pacific Tower I
46 story (350-unit)

5� Moana Pacific Tower II
46 story (350-unit)
*Sales to start early next year. Construction as soon as Jan. currently awaiting permit approval.


6� Nine O Nine Kapiolani (once known as Emerald Tower)
*32 stories (230-unit)

Proposed:


1� Pacific Quay Office Tower
(200,000 sq ft)

2� Pacific Quay Hotel Tower
(250-unit)

3� Unnamed Project
(200-unit) - tower over looking Honolulu Harbor

4� Outrigger Beach Walk Hotel
*27 stories

5� Kakaako Project
*25 stories

6� 800 Nu'uanu Avenue (2006)
*220ft 21 stories - (189-unit)

7� World Trade Center Hawaii (2006?)
*400 ft

8� Iwilei Elderly Housing
*13-15 stories
>Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i's (residential complex for the elderly) - near the old O'ahu Railway & Land Terminal building


9� 2121 Kuhio Avenue
*27 stories

10� Hobron Condominium Project (more info yet to be released by Irongate Capital Partners)

11� The Laie Hotel Project? hmmm

12� Victoria Ward Urban Village Apts - 218 units
*12 stories (Completed by Fall 2006)

13� South and Queen Street Condo Project (by Alexander & Baldwin Inc)
*300+ units - more details in the near future! (late 2005 begin construction)


**Two others are possible I will post updates as I receive more info!

I've also noticed many under 12 stories u/c two in my neighborhood alone. :D

[Urbanguy]

Wait theres more! This just in! :D

Aquarium master plan may include a hotel

The company proposing to develop an aquarium and ocean science center in Kaka'ako wants to expand its plans to include residential units, retail and entertainment space, parking and possibly a hotel.

Kajima Urban Development recently requested to exclusively negotiate with the state Hawaii Community Development Authority to become master developer of several waterfront parcels near the planned aquarium at the edge of Kewalo Basin and Point Panic.

KUD, which is finalizing its aquarium and ocean science center plan, said it makes sense to develop neighboring properties in conjunction with the aquarium complex, and has partnered with retail development giant and Ala Moana Center owner General Growth Properties in the effort.

"We believe that this is the most efficient way to proceed," wrote officials with KUD and General Growth in a letter to the agency last week. "It will accelerate the redevelopment of Kaka'ako and provide a master-planned development that is consistent with the goals and objectives of the (state)."

The agency, which controls development rights of state property in the area, has yet to respond to the unsolicited proposal.

State land makai of Ala Moana between Kewalo Basin and Honolulu Harbor has been the focus of the state's most important redevelopment effort since Aloha Tower Marketplace in the early 1990s.

During the past decade, the agency has had difficulty facilitating development of much of the property because of a weak economy, political controversy and questionable projects.

Previous development proposals included an indoor snowboarding center, high-technology park and several entertainment/shopping ideas, including one featuring a giant Ferris wheel.

More recently, the University of Hawai'i chose the area for a new medical school, which is being built by an affiliate of KUD, a subsidiary of Japan-based construction firm Kajima Corp.

In November 2002, KUD began exclusive negotiations to lease 10 acres for an estimated $200 million to $250 million facility to replace the Waikiki Aquarium and provide marine research facilities for the university and other users.

Last year, the agency said it planned to solicit development proposals for adjacent waterfront sites, and earlier this year received authorization to issue $20 million in revenue bonds to build a parking structure to support the aquarium and other waterfront development.

Parts of the KUD/General Growth proposal incorporate ideas previously suggested by the agency, such as cloaking residential units around a parking structure and creating a retail and entertainment mix of businesses along Kewalo Basin.

A business hotel was another possible use envisioned by KUD that in past years has been considered by the state.

KUD in its proposal also said it has discussed providing facilities for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, which is searching for a site to consolidate operations spread among a dozen locations on O'ahu.

"NOAA has not yet selected a site ... but is strongly interested in the KUD parcel in Kaka'ako," KUD's proposal said.

Bill Broglie, NOAA chief administrative officer in Maryland, said the federal agency has discussed the possibility with KUD, but is considering other sites and would use a competitive bid process to select a developer of its facility.

The NOAA has $29 million allocated for a Pacific Region Center to house various operations including weather forecasting, marine science studies and management of fisheries and coastal zones. NOAA also operates two research ships with a third on the way, and would like to broaden educational outreach possibly with a visitors center.

KUD is asking the state for an exclusive one-year negotiation period to allow pursuit of an agreement with NOAA, which KUD envisions as a third anchor in the area with the medical school and aquarium.

KUD also would conduct feasibility and other studies for the master plan. General Growth, which also owns Victoria Ward Centers nearby, would assist with the retail and entertainment components of the master plan.

Victoria Ward, before it was acquired by General Growth two years ago, unsuccessfully bid to develop retail shops, a farmer's market and entertainment and restaurant uses on part of the Kewalo waterfront in 1999.

"We believe it needs to be master-planned together to make it effective," said Jeff Dinsmore, Victoria Ward general manager. "Otherwise we could end up with a real mess."

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Aug/05/bz02map_b.gif

[Urbanguy]

Housing rule changing soon

New affordable housing in Kaka'ako is once again on the horizon, after nearly a decade without any below-market condominiums or rental apartments being developed.

Three years ago the state suspended rules that required private developers of buildings higher than 45 feet in Kaka'ako to either provide affordable residential units or give the state money to build below-market housing.

On Sept. 16, the suspension of the special assessment will expire, and developers will once again be building or paying for affordable housing. The waiver expiration comes as home prices hit record levels, generating a renewed focus on the need for affordable housing.

"We're in a crisis when it comes to housing," said Darlene Hein, executive director of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance. "The cost of housing is out of sight, even for people with fairly high incomes. Those at the lowest level of income are those who are the most affected by that."

The Legislature created the Hawai'i Community Development Authority in 1976 to guide redevelopment of the area roughly bounded by Ala Moana and Pi'ikoi, Punchbowl and King streets.

Part of the agency's mission is to ensure a supply for low- and moderate-income families � specifically the "gap" group of people who make too much to qualify for government assistance but not enough to qualify for a typical mortgage.

So developers seeking greater development density for commercial or residential projects between 45 feet to 400 feet high were required to make 20 percent of a project affordable housing or pay cash to help the state finance affordable housing in the area.

The cash fee was initially up to 2.5 percent of a project's gross revenue, but was raised to 4 percent in 1990 as luxury condos flooded the market and property values soared.

Under the fee rule, 1,400 affordable units were built from 1982 to 1996. But development stopped after that, as the state's economy and housing market faltered.

In hopes of stimulating development, the agency reduced the fee for projects that contained more moderate-priced residential units, and in 1997 waived the fee for one year. But that failed to spur additional development.

The fee was reinstituted in 1998, but by 2001, with still no qualified projects on the radar, the agency again waived the fee, this time for three years in order to accommodate long-range planning for land acquisition, financing and permitting.

Developers at the time said the waiver would remove a disincentive to building in the area, and reduce prices of units built. At the time, developers estimated that the price of a $300,000 condo would drop roughly $10,000 with the waiver.

Supporters of the waiver also said the gap between below-market and at-market units had dramatically narrowed since the early 1990s.

Others opposed the waiver, including the state Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i, which encouraged relaxing the rule instead of suspending it.

Building approved

Since the waiver was granted, three major residential high-rises were approved with about 1,100 units at mostly high-moderate and luxury prices.

At Hokua, the first to begin construction, sales average about $1 million per unit in the 248-unit project.

The Moana Pacific twin-tower project also has qualified, and 909 Kapiolani expects to complete its permit application to qualify for the waiver by the Sept. 16 deadline.

A fourth project under construction, Ko'olani, is part of the five-tower former Nauru project that previously satisfied its affordable-housing commitment.

Hong Lee, project manager for 909 Kapiolani, said the fee would have jeopardized the 150-unit condo, which was delayed for nearly 10 years in part because of weak economies in Hawai'i and South Korea where the developer's parent company is based.

"The waiver of the affordable-housing rule is a huge issue," he said. "We would have to sacrifice up to 20 percent of the units, for affordable housing, or pay (about) $4 million."

Dan Dinell, development authority executive director, said the waiver served its purpose.

"That fact is validated by the major projects that are coming to fruition," he said.

Dinell said the waiver led to several hundred million dollars of economic activity, and has an ongoing benefit of strengthening the city's property tax base.

A&B project

Last week, Alexander & Baldwin Inc. announced it reached an agreement to purchase a 2.7-acre parking lot on South Street on which it anticipates starting construction of a 300-plus-unit condo late next year.

A&B representatives said the company will not be able to qualify for the waiver before it expires, but has not decided how it will satisfy the affordable-housing requirement.

The A&B project, with unit prices estimated between $450,000 and $650,000, would be the first project to contribute to the Kaka'ako affordable-housing program in nearly 10 years.

Based on the latest median household income for Honolulu and interest rates a little under 6 percent, the fee would range from 4 percent of units priced above $580,000, and progressively decrease to zero for units at or below $437,000.

If A&B sold 300 units at $600,000, it would incur a $7.2 million assessment under the formula, which fluctuates with changes in median income and interest rates.

The development authority has $1.5 million in its affordable-housing development fund that can be used for projects or to buy back affordable units if owners sell within 10 years.

If affordable units were built today under state guidelines and a 6 percent mortgage rate, a family with an annual income of $52,550 would qualify for a home priced at $215,300. The price rises to as much as $376,800 for a family earning $91,980.

"We certainly have a great need," said Stephanie Aveiro, executive director of the state Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i, which works with the Kaka'ako development authority to establish affordable housing. "We're glad to see the end of the three-year waiver."

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Aug/08/bz02map.gif

[Urbanguy]

Hawai'i's first government-financed homeless complex to provide transitional housing and one-stop support for 150 people is planned at a site in Wai'anae, pending final approval, city officials said last week.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Aug/09/ln03a.gif

Federal money allocated by the city will pay for the $5.3 million project on state land near the Kau'iokalani public housing project, said Mayor Jeremy Harris, a strong proponent.

Approval by a committee of city officials could come this week. No council or other approval is needed.

Stanlyn Placencia, executive director of Wai'anae Community Outreach, said there will likely be a public hearing and she hopes residents will move into the first units in about 15 months.

The project, considered all but dead six months ago, got new life when a consortium of three nonprofit groups stepped forward to manage the project before last week's deadline. Homeless Solutions Inc., Wai'anae Community Outreach and the U.S. Veterans Initiative will share management, Harris said.

The consortium was the sole applicant for the project, which evolved from a Harris proposal last year. Homeless advocates criticized the original proposal for failing to provide long-term housing with support services and for failing to provide money to operate the facility.

Wai'anae residents worry the facility could draw more homeless to their community, which is already home to 1,000 people on the street on any given day.

But, Harris said, it is an important first step in providing care for O'ahu's 3,297 homeless.

The complex is "not just a homeless shelter, but an actual facility that will be able to do intake services and provide the necessary referral services for a whole variety of different problems and needs to get at the cause of the homelessness," he said. "If you don't deal with that, you're never going to solve the problem."

The complex will be for singles as well as couples and families, which is unique. Other private facilities focus on specific groups, usually women with children.

Anna Peroff, 36, who has been homeless for about two years, said the planned homeless facility in Wai'anae gives her hope for the future.

Peroff now lives in her car with her boyfriend along the Wai'anae coast.

Peroff, a former drug user, said it is hard to get the support services and job training she needs to improve her life while living on the streets.

"It would make a big difference to me," Peroff said. "Having a house would give me more self-esteem to move forward in my life. Now, being on the beach, inside of me, it's different."

She works at the Wai'anae Community Outreach Center and her boyfriend gets construction jobs when he can find them, but they have not earned enough to find a home they can afford.

"If we were in a home and stable, a lot of things would go different for us," she said.

The latest proposal would not have happened without state intervention.

"The state has stepped up to the plate and offered to provide the land," said Terry Brooks, executive director of Homeless Solutions, the lead applicant of the consortium. "That was make or break. Without that, nobody had property and it would have gone nowhere." The land is being provided at a cost of $1 annually.

The state also encouraged the nonprofit groups to put together their proposal to manage the facility, said Sandra Miyoshi, homeless program administrator for the Department of Human Services.

"I didn't want the money to disappear," she said. "How often do you have a commitment of funds to build something for the homeless? Very, very rare. Since this opportunity was there, the providers, everyone kind of scrambled to say what can we do to make this work."

The money was provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Miyoshi said the state's 3.3-acre property at Kau'iokalani was intended for public housing, but sat empty due to lack of money.

"Here we have improved land and no money to build," she said. "The city is offering this opportunity to build something, but the $5.3 million is not enough to purchase land. You put them together and we suddenly have something that can happen to create housing for the homeless."

Wai'anae has one of O'ahu's biggest homeless populations.

"There is a tremendous need out there," Brooks said. "There are so many people, families particularly, living on the beach or in a van. This is meant to address those needs because there is not much out there at this point."

Area residents know help is needed for the homeless, but are concerned that it's in their backyard.

Cynthia Rezentes, chairwoman of the Wai'anae Neighborhood Board, said putting a major new homeless facility along the coast could send more needy people searching for help their way.

"I think this is one of the fears a lot of people have," Rezentes said. "As far as accommodating the homeless people that are here today, I don't think you're going to find anybody opposed to that. The question is who all else is going to end up out here because of that."

Rezentes would like to see similar centers built in other areas.

"Nobody out here is going to say we won't handle our own. That is not the issue," she said. "But, you can't blame them for gravitating to where the services are."

The facility will have 55 units of transitional housing and a one-stop support services center. It will also have an additional 20 units of supportive housing for homeless veterans in former Navy barracks in Kalaeloa.

Money for staff and maintenance will come from rent for the units, which will be set at no more than 30 percent of tenants' adjusted income. People without income also will be considered for housing, according to the applicant's proposal.

The three groups that will co-manage the facility have experience in this area.

Homeless Solutions currently runs four family transitional complexes, two that were supported by the city. Neither of the city-supported facilities provide one-stop support services on-site, and they are not for all homeless people.

One of them, Vancouver House, opened in January 1999 and houses 30 families, mostly single women and their children.

"Except for Vancouver House, there hasn't been much new built by anybody to address the homeless issue for many years," Brooks said. "It is something whose time has come."

Harris said even though he leaves office at the end of the year, he would like to see the city continue to build similar projects where needed.

"The city gets $15 million to $20 million in (federal) funds every year," he said. "So we could easily set aside $5 million a year and build a new one every year in different parts of the island."

The Wai'anae project is a good start, but there is still a long way to go to solving homelessness in Hawai'i, Harris said.

"We can't just keep sheltering homeless," he said. "We've got to figure out what is causing the homelessness and deal with that so they are no longer homeless. They can be transitioned back into society and have jobs and are productive and gotten treatment for the mental illness or drug abuse or whatever it is. I think (this project) has great potential."

[Urbanguy]

Current pic of the HUGE urban mega Wal-Mart/Sams Clubs U/C a block from my house its set to open in Oct
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Aug/20/business4_b.jpg

[Urbanguy]

Voyaging canoe Hokule'a inspires Kaka'ako plan

This is a detail of developer D.G. "Andy" Anderson's proposed Kaka'ako complex, which would resemble Hokule'a.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Sep/01/bz04a_400.jpg

Goodbye Ferris wheel, hello sails of Hokule'a.

Almost five years after a state panel killed an ambitious plan by D.G. "Andy" Anderson to redevelop state land along the Kewalo waterfront, the restaurateur and former politician is back with a new proposal.

Out is Anderson's old idea for a 130-foot-high Ferris wheel surrounded by retail shops and restaurants.

The new project's focal point is a nearly 300-foot-high Pacific Rim business trade center made to look like a giant version of the Hawaiian sailing canoe Hokule'a � with residential, office and possibly hotel units in tall, thin buildings designed as "sails" attached above twin canoe-shaped hull structures.

Retail shops, restaurants, a farmers market, underground parking, an outdoor concert venue and space for another developer's aquarium also are part of Anderson's revised plan, which he hopes to publicly present to the state agency controlling development of the area in October.

The proposal � dubbed Hawai'i Pacific Trade Center, The Sails of Hokule'a � includes demolishing and rebuilding Anderson's John Dominis restaurant, as well as previous Anderson ideas for a miniature golf course and carousel.

Anderson's last proposal failed to win support from the state, and he blamed then-Gov. Ben Cayetano for nixing it. Anderson said he believes he has a better chance under Gov. Linda Lingle's administration.

"Hopefully it's going to be accepted," he said. "I'm in love with what we came up with. I think it's gorgeous. I give you my best shot. If it gets rejected, I can live with that."

Anderson also is asking the state to approve him as master developer of several waterfront parcels at the 'ewa edge of Kewalo Basin in Kaka'ako.

Last month, the company negotiating to develop an aquarium and ocean science center in the area teamed with giant retail developer General Growth Properties on a competing proposition.

That plan, headed by Kajima Urban Development, would expand the aquarium and ocean science center plan to also include residential units, retail and entertainment space, a parking structure and possibly a hotel.

Anderson's proposal would incorporate KUD's aquarium and science center.

"I'm looking for a marriage," Anderson said yesterday. "I'm not trying to throw them out."

Anderson, in his written proposal, did challenge a couple of the aspects of KUD's larger plan, including building residential units around a centralized parking structure, and offering space for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as an area anchor tenant.

Anderson questioned the wisdom of housing government operations on valuable waterfront property, and said residential units would be better located away from the core of retail and entertainment activities.

Both the KUD and Anderson proposals, however, are conceptual and subject to refinement.

The Hawai'i Community Development Authority, the state agency overseeing redevelopment of the area, got a copy of Anderson's proposal Monday.

The agency said it could not respond yet because it is in the midst of a 60-day review of KUD's aquarium plan. The authority also has not publicly commented on KUD's larger proposal.

Land makai of Ala Moana between Kewalo Basin and Ho-nolulu Harbor has been the focus of the state's most important redevelopment effort since Aloha Tower Marketplace in the early 1990s. The effort got a boost two years ago when construction began on the University of Hawai'i medical school, which is being built by an affiliate of KUD, a subsidiary of Japan-based construction firm Kajima Corp.

The recent interest from developers follows a decade of difficulty in state efforts to facilitate private development of much of the land because of a weak economy and questionable projects.

One of the biggest controversies involved Anderson's original plan, called Kewalo Pointe.

The $138 million Ferris wheel-anchored project was tentatively selected in 1999 over eight competing plans that included an indoor snowboarding center, high-technology park and several entertainment/shopping ideas.

But after months of sometimes contentious negotiations between Anderson and the development authority, as well as the replacement of two key Kewalo Pointe supporters on the board, agency directors voted 7-2 to reject the project in December 1999.

The board said Anderson underestimated construction costs and inflated revenue projections.

Anderson at the time argued that his project was supported by consultant feasibility studies, and said that if financial lenders were willing to back the project the state shouldn't have rejected it.

Anderson, a former state senator and Republican Party leader, said the plan was rejected as political payback by Cayetano, a Democrat with four officials in his administration on the agency board. Anderson later switched parties and ran for governor as a Democrat in 2002.

Cayetano yesterday said that Anderson's allegations are not worthy of a response.

Five years ago, then-agency executive director Jan Yokota defended the board's decision as one that independently assessed Anderson's market study and agency staff recommendations.

Yesterday Anderson reaffirmed his belief that the rejection was "pure down-and-dirty politics. It was a political decision, and I can live with that."

Anderson, who five years ago vowed not to invest another dollar in Hawai'i under the previous administration, said Lingle's Republican administration gives him more confidence his second attempt will receive fairer review.

Anderson's son Brian Anderson, a Big Island-based real estate developer, also is working on the Kewalo project.

Andy Anderson is the company's managing member. Others on the team include Architects Hawai'i principal Joe Farrell and real-estate consultants Brad Lofgren with CB Richard Ellis in Los Angeles and Yoshi Takagi of Cosmos Australia Pty. Ltd.

[CrispyDragon]

Urbanguy - can you post a link to this article?
thx! CDragon

[Urbanguy]

^Hi no problem here you go: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Sep/01/bz/bz04a.html

[Urbanguy]

Shopping options to expand at Kunia center

About 30 new restaurants, retailers and service providers are expected to begin moving into Kunia Shopping Center in fall 2005.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Sep/03/business4_b.jpg

Nordic Construction Ltd. is scheduled to break ground today on the 60,000-square-foot complex being developed by Alexander & Baldwin Inc. below Wal-Mart and Times Super Market.

Signed tenants include Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Auntie Pasto's, Quizno's, GameStop, SuperCuts, Bellagio Day Spa, Sumo Sushi, Baskin-Robbins, Pearl's Korean BBQ, CeCe Casuals, Kiawe Grill, Manawa Lea Health Services, Tammy Chang DDS, Dental Fitness and Royal Kunia Dental.

Leasing agents also have sought Blockbuster Video, a bookstore, dollar store and a large specialty retailer. About 30 percent of center space is still available.

A&B bought the 4.55-acre property from an affiliate of Kapi'olani Health for about $2.7 million in late 2002 and announced plans to build the estimated $9 million complex.

NOAA closing in on new Oahu site

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has narrowed to three the possible sites for a new office and laboratory building on Oahu, its director confirmed yesterday.

Windward Community College in Kaneohe, state land in Kakaako and the Navy's Ford Island would all be excellent locations for the facility, said NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher Jr. Each site has attributes and drawbacks to be weighed as the agency makes a final decision, he said.

For example, Lautenbacher said, the Windward Community College campus would provide a pleasant workplace and close affiliation with University of Hawaii marine science researchers, but it could not provide berths for NOAA's three ocean research vessels.

Ford Island would provide nearby deep-draft harbor berths, and Kakaako would be the closest to agency employees at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, he said.

Lautenbacher, who is in Honolulu for the commissioning of the new NOAA research ship Hiialakai today, would not say which of the finalist sites is likely to emerge as the chosen one.

"We know we want pleasant, productive surroundings" that will provide a good working environment for NOAA scientists and their collaborators, Lautenbacher said.

The new building is expected to house 450 NOAA employees. It would consolidate the workplace for about 260 NOAA employees who work at numerous Oahu locations, and it would make room for up to 190 new employees and expanded research. The agency has budgeted $29 million for planning, design and early construction for the new NOAA center but has not released estimates of the total cost.

The Pacific Division of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command will manage the project for NOAA, including development of an environmental impact statement that will compare the sites, Lautenbacher said. Under the EIS process, people can comment on the locations at public hearings.

NOAA is part of the federal Department of Commerce and includes the National Weather Service, National Marine Fisheries Service and National Marine Sanctuary Program.

The proposed building would have 400,000 square feet of space -- about one-quarter the size of Ala Moana Center.

A NOAA study estimated the project would provide $40 million in construction-related jobs over two years.

[Urbanguy]

Waikiki gets preview of new condo projects

Two new residential building projects, further signs of the area's condominium sales boom, will be discussed during the Waikiki Neighborhood Board meeting tonight.

The two are among several projects that have been announced or started in the past year after about a decade with no residential condo construction starts.

Presentations are scheduled on the Ala Wai Gateway and Royal Kahili Tower condominium projects.

The Royal Kahili Tower will be a 208-foot, 26-unit building on Ala Wai Boulevard at Namahana Street. The two-bedroom, fee-simple units will have 1,300 to 1,400 square feet.

The market-priced project is being proposed by Nichiei USA Inc., which owns the neighboring Royal Garden Hotel. The property is vacant except for a swimming pool on two parcels and the owner hopes to start construction in June.

The Ala Wai Gateway, a 350-foot, 212-unit tower is being proposed by Irongate Ala Wai Investors LLC.

The 37-story building will be at 1609 Ala Wai Boulevard with portions on Hobron Lane and Liteetee Street.

An 18-unit, three-story building on the property will be torn down.

The developer hopes to begin construction in June and expects 18 months to two years for construction.

Both projects are required to complete an environmental assessment and secure a Waikiki special district permit and building permits before proceeding.

Among the several recent projects in the area are the Tusitala Vista Elderly Apartments, with 106 units for seniors on Ala Wai Boulevard; Belrad Group LLC's 31-story project at 2121 Kuhio Ave.; and a 100-unit condo tower on Kuhio Avenue.

Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association, said as long as the projects follow existing zoning codes, they should be positive additions.

"I think the area can handle what it is zoned for," Egged said. "It's when projects ask for a number of variances that they have to be more closely scrutinized."

Egged said the new projects are focused on the upscale market, which is selling quickly.

"Certainly, it brings the clientele to Waikiki that can benefit our businesses."

Egged said it's important that projects keep in mind the concerns of their neighbors, which usually include traffic, views and open space.

"There was a concern in the past that Waikiki was overbuilt, but as you see, these projects come into areas that are either vacant or have blighted buildings on them. I think a high-quality development is a positive thing for Waikiki, not a negative one," he said.

[Urbanguy]

The forest of high-rises lining the Ala Wai Canal could get a bit thicker if plans for a pair of separate residential towers take root.

A development partnership wants to build a 350-foot condominium tower with 212 units near the canal's Ewa terminus, while another party has formulated plans for a 208-foot 26-unit development on Namahana Street.

http://starbulletin.com/2004/09/14/business/art1a.jpg

The larger project would be called Ala Wai Gateway and would feature 210 two-bedroom condos and two three-bedroom units. The developer, Irongate Ala Wai LLC, plans to build the project on six parcels reaching from Ala Wai Boulevard to Hobron Lane, an area now marked by weed-filled vacant lots and boarded-up three-story tenements.

The second project has been dubbed Royal Kahili Tower. The developer is Nichiei USA Inc., owner of the adjacent Royal Garden Hotel. The new 208-foot building would be built on three lots fronting Ala Wai Boulevard now used by the hotel as a lawn area.

[Urbanguy]

Downtown professionals targeted for high-rise condo

PMK Development LLC has released new information about development plans for Capitol Place, a 2.4 acre project located in the Capital District at Beretania Street and Queen Emma Street.

The development said Tuesday it intends for the new project to include moderately priced residential condominiums targeted at professionals employed in downtown "who want to live, work, and play all within a radius of a few blocks in downtown Honolulu."

Pflueger Group LLC has joined with affiliates of The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group LLC to form PMK Development LLC, for the construction of Capitol Place.

Plans also include a new Pflueger Honda dealership at the base of the residential tower.

:D

[Urbanguy]

More info:

he new owner of a former downtown municipal parking lot known as Block J plans to build a 39-story multi-use building with about 400 condominiums, six floors of parking, and a Pflueger Honda dealership on the ground level.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Oct/06/bz02map.gif

The 350-foot residential condominium tower planned for the 2.4-acre site at Beretania and Queen Emma streets will have 33 floors of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.

Sales of the residential condominiums are expected to begin later this year, with units averaging about $500,000 and one-bedroom units starting in the high-$200,000 range, said Kathy Inouye, chief operating officer of Kobayashi Group LLC, one of the developers of the project.

Other than the auto dealership, there will be no commercial space on the property.

Construction will begin at the end of 2005 and is scheduled to be completed by December 2007, Inouye said.

Pflueger Group LLC has joined with affiliates of local developers The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group LLC to form PMK Development LLC to develop the project, called Capitol Place. The project will be located on the border of the Capitol District, which includes Washington Place, 'Iolani Palace and the state Capitol.

The garage will include at least 100 public stalls charging municipal rates for 12 years, as well as additional stalls for long-term rental at market rates, she said. Developers are trying to add more public stalls, she said.

The site, which has been a municipal parking lot for almost 30 years and is used heavily by people visiting nearby District Court, has 202 metered and 10 handicap stalls. The site will remain a parking lot managed by AMPCO until construction begins.

The city sold the property to Pflueger earlier this year for $10.5 million after several previous attempts to redevelop the area failed. Pflueger plans to move to the site its dealership on Ala Moana, where landowner Kamehameha Schools has redevelopment plans.

[Urbanguy]

Hawai'i Kai developers propose taller buildings

A group of developers hopes to obtain approval for 90-foot-tall buildings near the Hawai'i Kai post office to accommodate 296 high-end condominiums. If approved, it would be among the last remaining such projects in a building boom that began about five years ago.

If the City Council doesn't approve the request, the developers will build the same number of units, to a maximum height of 60 feet, which is currently approved, said Mike Klein, who is affiliated with Hawai'i Intergenerational Community Development Association.

Klein, whose group is one of three developers on the project, said they had incorporated concerns about overdevelopment into the buildings' design. "We can mitigate the look of sprawl along Hawai'i Kai Drive with the height," he said.

The project, Hale Ali'i, would be similar in price and size to the high-rises going up along Ala Moana Boulevard. Individual units there sold for about $1 million each, appealing to upscale owners in their 50s, Klein said. Details about the units are not set yet, he said.

The project has been getting mixed reactions. Residents praise the developer for designing buildings set back from the road that fit in with the community. But others have no tolerance for any additional building in the community, which has seen a development boom in the past five years, with four large housing projects going up now.

When the project was first presented to the community in the spring, Klein assured residents who live on Mariner's Ridge, behind the project on Hawai'i Kai Drive, that their views should not be affected by a 90-foot building. It would be similar in height to the 30-year-old Esplanade condominium building on Lunalilo Home Road, across from Kaiser High School.

The Hale Ali'i project has city zoning, but would require a zone change to allow the developers to exceed the 60-foot height limitation set for the parcel. The developers had thought they could proceed with a variance, but after informal talks with the city Department of Planning and Permitting, they were told to seek a zone change, Klein said. That will require a series of public hearings and City Council approval.

The project received a nod last week from the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board, which voted 9-1 in favor of it. James Kennedy voted in opposition and Tony Paresa abstained.

The next step is for the developers to apply to the city for a height change, Klein said. That will probably take about a year to decide.

Ron Bowman, whose home on Mariner's Ridge overlooks the property, said he didn't see how a 90-foot project would affect his view.

But Andrew Constantaras, another Mariner's Ridge resident, said he saw no compelling reason for the city to change the height allowance.

"We have zoning regulations that restrict building heights to 60 feet," Constantaras said. "A taller building will be an eyesore no matter what cosmetic improvements are proposed by the developer."

[Urbanguy]

Aloha Tower proposal approved!

The agency charged with upgrading state land around Aloha Tower today formally agreed to back a Dallas firm's roughly $300 million mixed-use development proposal that would split costs and some profit with the state.

Directors of the state Aloha Tower Development Corp. approved an agreement that allows UC Urban to proceed with its residential loft community connected with a downtown streetcar system and ferry terminal subject to the Legislature authorizing state bond financing for much of the public improvements.

If general obligation bond financing is approved during the 2005 legislative session, construction could begin in early 2006.

"With this agreement the ATDC is endorsing a clear vision for the future of Honolulu's downtown waterfront," said David Louie, a private attorney and agency chairman.

UC Urban received the unanimous backing from a mix of private business leaders and officials high in the administration of Gov. Linda Lingle on the agency board, including Ted Liu, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.

"This initial agreement commits ATDC and UC Urban to a program, but recognizes that much of what needs to be done will require coordination and consensus from the private corporations, the Legislature, various other state agencies and county government before it can become a reality," Liu said.

UC Urban principal Ken Hughes said both he and agency members worked patiently to agree on the plan that has evolved since he responded to a request for proposals in late 2002.

The ambitious project would be developed in several phases, though the agreement allows amendments to content and sequencing.

An initial phase would include modifying traffic access to the Aloha Tower area and developing Piers 5 and 6 with about 360 condominiums, retail, restaurants and parking. Another 210 condos would be developed in two later phases.

The loft-style condos are projected to sell for $360,000 to $800,000, with an estimated 8 percent of proceeds going to the state and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs because the project is on ceded land.

Hughes said his company would arrange private financing for the the Pier 5 and 6 work estimated at $150 million.

Other elements included in early phases would be relocating two Hawaiian Electric Co. power plant buildings to make way for a park, and starting a 2-mile downtown streetcar system.

Removing the parking from Irwin Park and developing a parking garage at Pier 2 would happen in later phases.

Two optional elements are creating a downtown bypass tunnel under Nimitz Highway and transforming Piers 10 and 11 into a new cruise ship terminal with parking, a bus and taxi queuing area, state Transportation Department offices and residential condos.

[Urbanguy]

Here's some of the towers currently under construction in Honolulu!

Lanikea

Rendering:

http://www.lanikea.com/images/BldgRendering.jpg
http://www.lanikea.com/images/SitePlanLayout_lg.jpg

Location:

http://www.lanikea.com/images/Map.jpg

Brief Description:

Height: 300 ft *100-unit, two-bedroom with only 4 residences per floor, fee simple condominium development, with ocean and mountain views, conveniently located near the entrance to Waikiki. Lanikea will be the first condominium built in Waikiki in over ten years.

Priced from the mid $400,000's to $1.4 million

A view:

http://www.lanikea.com/images/041008_bldg.jpg
http://www.lanikea.com/images/041011_bldg.jpg

Website: Lanikea (http://www.lanikea.com/)

Hokua Tower

Rendering:

http://www.permasteelisausa.com/image/exteriors/hokua1.jpg
http://www.abprop.com/development/images/hokua.jpg

Location:

http://www.hokua.net/images/builover_mainimg.jpg

Brief Description:

Height: 418 ft *247-unit luxury residential condominium, conveniently located between Ala Moana Center and the Victoria Ward retail/entertainment centers.

Priced from the $550,000's to $5.5 million

A view:

http://www.hokua.net/images/netcam.jpg
http://www.hokua.net/images/netcam2.jpg

Website: Hokua (http://www.hokua.net/)

Ko'olani

Rendering:

http://koolani.com/low/images/bldg_pic1.jpg
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Location:

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Brief Description:

Height: 400 ft *370-unit luxury condominium located between Ala Moana Center and the Victoria Ward retail/entertainment centers.

Priced from ??

A View:

Construction Cam (http://www.koolani.com/construction.html)

Website: Ko'olani (http://koolani.com/)

I'll try to post more info about the other developments eventually! :D

[Urbanguy]

Ward Village Development - Central Honolulu

Here's what the view along Auahi Street would look like. A redevelopment official praised the "low-density aspect" of the Victoria Ward plan.

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Victoria Ward Ltd. has received state approval to build a new street in its neighborhood complex of retail centers, as part of changes to a $100 million plan to add rental apartments, more shops and a parking structure on its Kaka'ako property.

The company, which unveiled initial plans for the project in July, also modified the apartment component by eliminating one of two planned towers. The surviving tower would be 17 stories, three floors higher, but would contain 53 fewer units for a total of 165.

The Hawai'i Community Development Authority, which oversees redevelopment in Ka-

ka'ako, approved the changes and other more minor modifications to the plan at a public hearing yesterday.

Victoria Ward's plan would replace the Ward Village Shops housing Starbucks, Kua 'Aina and other tenants on most of the block bordered by Kamake'e, Auahi and the Queen Street extension.

The agency allowed a 200-foot apartment tower. Under agency rules, Victoria Ward could have applied to build as high as 400 feet, roughly the height of nearby condominiums Nauru Tower, Hawaiki Tower and two others under construction.

"I like the low-density aspect versus a sea of 400-foot towers," said Daniel Dinell, agency executive director.

The new road, dubbed Queen Lane, was added at the request of the city over concern that the additional residential and shopping traffic would put too much stress on Kamake'e, the only mauka-makai road running completely through Victoria Ward's evolving urban village.

Victoria Ward will build, maintain and own the two-lane road, which would be open for continual public use.

The company would acquire the thoroughfare by redeeming land credits it received earlier for giving the state some of its property.

Victoria Ward is also required to contribute another 14,000 square feet of land to the development authority as a public facility assessment, though the company has roughly 40,000 square feet of land credits.

The redevelopment would be another step advancing Victoria Ward's vision to transform Kaka'ako's retail core into a place where people can not only shop, dine and be entertained, but also live and work.

The redeveloped Ward Village Shops would expand Victoria Ward retail space by about 200,000 square feet, wrapping new stores and the apartment tower around a 1,010-stall parking structure.

Pier 1 Imports would remain where it is under the plan. Other tenants on the redevelopment site would be moved to new shop space to be built on the site of the former Tesoro gas station on the corner of Ward Avenue and Auahi or a planned expansion of Ward Centre.

Ward Village redevelopment would commence after completion of the two smaller projects, and the new stores are projected to be finished in spring 2006, followed by the apartments in fall 2006.

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This is what the area looks like now:

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A NEW LOOK FOR WARD

This is the final plan for Ward Village Shops:

� Units: With one less tower, the project will house 165 rental apartments instead of 218 as originally planned.
� Height: The tower will be 17 stories.
� Retail: Commercial space will be increased to 224,000 square feet from the original 160,000 square feet.

:D Yay Go Honolulu!

[Urbanguy]

Ford Island builds on its history

FORD ISLAND � Herb Franck not only remembers Pearl Harbor, he remembers the first bomb blast there on December 7, 1941. At 7:55 a.m. a 250-pound explosive ripped apart Hangar 6, killing his friend Ted Croft, aviation ordinance man, 1st class.

At that moment Franck, a 22-year-old aviation machinist mate, 1st class, was having breakfast at the mess hall near where the USS California was moored. He heard the explosion and the sound of unusual plane engines, and ran outside to find low-flying Japanese Zero fighters overhead. That's when he and his mates noticed smoke and fire billowing from Hangar 6.

"Our squadron was on the south side of Hangar 6," said Franck, 85, who now repairs vintage aircraft engines for the San Diego Aerospace Museum. "They dropped the first bomb right there. Ted was in the duty section of the hangar when it hit. He would have been off duty in five minutes."

Croft was the only person to die that day on Ford Island � 450-acres in the middle of the harbor. But from the instant the first bomb hit Hangar 6, the island belonged to history.

Allan Palmer, executive director of the Pacific Aviation Museum, stands in front of the old Ford Island control tower, which has been used as a movie scene backdrop.
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Pearl Harbor, previously unknown to the majority of Americans, forever became a national focal point, like Gettysburg and the Alamo.

And for six decades Ford Island, complete with its bullet holes, strafe marks and other reminders of the attack, sat undisturbed � as if sealed in a time capsule. The fact that the military outpost could only be reached by ferry boat kept its history intact. The 100 folks living in three dozen quaint officers quarters built in the 1920s, along with 200 barracks soldiers, pretty much had the sleepy island to themselves.

While people everywhere knew of Pearl Harbor, few had heard of Ford Island, where the Pacific Fleet battleships were moored and the infamous attack on the base began.

In 1998, the Admiral Clarey Bridge connected Ford Island with Kamehameha Highway and Salt Lake Boulevard and progress could no longer be kept at bay.

Now the island is in the midst of a transformation that could dramatically alter its appearance, its function, and its visibility. In October, the Navy dedicated 140 homes next to the old airfield, the first new housing on the island since the 1920s.

An $84 million Ford Island master development project in the works by private developers calls for plans to build hundreds of two-bedroom apartments, dozens of two-story residential townhomes, and a waterfront promenade with shops and restaurants.

And the $50 million, 16-acre Pacific Aviation Museum-Pearl Harbor, the first phase of which is scheduled to open on Dec. 7, 2006, promises to open the island for the first time to hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

An icon of WW II

Flying legend Chuck Yeager, the man with "the right stuff," kicked off the museum's fund-raising campaign with a keynote address at a sold-out banquet at the Officer's Club at Hickam Air Force Base last week.

"This is a tremendous endeavor," Yeager told the crowd. "As I've said, you're starting late, but I think, looking at the talent you've gathered together, you'll hack it."

In Yeager's first visit to Ford Island, he walked away impressed with the sense of history he found there.

That reaction is not unusual, according to Allan Palmer, executive director of the aviation museum.

"Last year, right here where we're standing, Apollo astronaut Wally Schirra looked around and almost got tears in his eyes," said Palmer as he planted his feet on the concrete not far from Ford Island's most noted icon, the red and white striped control tower that has been featured in major motion pictures.

"He said, 'Back when I was a young fellow, the attack that happened here was what got me to go down and sign up for the Navy � and I flew throughout the rest of the war, and Korea, and got into the space program.'"

Schirra said his whole life had been shaped by the events of Dec. 7.

It's that passion that the aviation museum wants to tap into, said Palmer, who served two tours as a fighter pilot in Vietnam, and has an extensive background in operating aviation museums.

New housing is being built on once-sleepy Ford Island. The Navy dedicated 140 homes next to the old airfield.
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Aviation museum

This is one of the hangars that will become the Pacific Aviation Museum, with exhibits on the history of flying.
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The Ford Island museum will augment Pearl Harbor's existing three attractions, the USS Arizona Memorial, the Battleship USS Missouri Memorial, and the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum, said Palmer.

The main components, when complete, will be three vintage hangars � original bullet holes and all � that will feature a phantasmagoria of multi-level interactive attractions, flight simulators, vintage aircraft, large screen films, dioramas and even a full-scale WW II-era aircraft carrier deck. The idea is to transport visitors through time and place them at every aspect of the story of aviation from 1913 to the present.

The focus will be on the Pacific, and of course Pearl Harbor, but the museum will include major components dedicated to the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Pearl Harbor did more than just catapult America into World War II, says Palmer. The attack was the first major air campaign using aircraft carriers � a monumental technical advance.

"That moment changed forever the thinking about warfare," he said. "That all happened right here in the harbor and it was seminal moment in history. And yet, there's not an airplane in sight."

Time to modernize

That could soon change. Herb Franck sees it as good news.

In March of 1942 Franck left Ford Island and shipped out to Australia. But he returned 17 years later for his last tour of duty in the Navy � this time as the commander of the naval air station. Even then, he says, he was stunned at how the island looked the same as it did when he left.

In 1964, the airfield was officially decommissioned and activity on the island slowed to a snail's pace. Franck, who still visits the island nearly every year, believes the Pacific Aviation Museum is the best hope to preserve Ford Island's fragile past. As for the housing, shopping centers and other changes, Franck believes they were inevitable.

He's enthusiastic about the thought of thousands of American kids visiting the place where the Pearl Harbor attack began and experiencing firsthand the events of that morning.

"If the government did not put some valid use on the island after it was no longer an active air-field, it was only a matter of time before a lot of its history would have gone by the wayside," said Franck.

Like Yeager, Franck thinks the museum is long overdue. He fears the process of forgetting Pearl Harbor has already begun.

Not long ago Franck spoke to a high school senior touring the aerospace museum in San Diego.

"I asked him, 'Hey, do you know about Pearl Harbor?' And he said, 'No, who's she?'

"True story. That kind of tears you apart."

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[Urbanguy]

Another luxo-condo tower to rise downtown

A California developer plans to build a 35-story luxury condominium complex at the corner of Beretania and Bishop streets, the second new high-rise planned for downtown in 2005.

To be called The Pinnacle Honolulu, the sleek, narrow building will offer 50 residential units, only two per floor, ranging in price between $650,000 and $1.2 million.

The Pinnacle LLC, a subsidiary of Caribou Industries Inc. of Santa Ana, Calif., plans to build on the sliver of land across the street from Block J, the site of another proposed high-rise.

Both will be approximately the same height, 350 feet, but the Pinnacle project should be the first to break ground, with an expected start date in March.

The Pinnacle joins a number of other high-rise condo projects under way in Honolulu, including PMK Development's proposed project across the street, The Hokua and Koolani, both already rising from the ground in Kakaako, and the Moana Pacific, under construction on Kapiolani Boulevard.

Michael Harrah, CEO and president of Caribou Industries Inc., bought the 13,637-square-foot site in June for $4 million and said he knew its location at 1199 Bishop St. was attractive.

"What really intrigued me about this is the gateway," Harrah said. "You'll have 24 hours of magic from the city lights looking toward the ocean, and you'll get the sunrise and the sunset."

The site, now operating as a Park & Lock lot, is a short walk from the State Capitol, Iolani Palace, Chinatown and Aloha Tower Marketplace.

U.S. Pacific Construction of Honolulu is the general contractor. David Stringer of Stringer Architects and Hank Reese are project architects.

Units will offer three bedrooms and measure from 1,500 to 2,700 square feet, with exclusive elevator entrances. Specifications include 10-foot-high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and two parking stalls per unit.

[Urbanguy]

Aquarium, resort to crown Ko Olina

State tax credits will help fund the $1 billion project of condos and a Hawaiian village

Plans for the $1 billion Grand Ko Olina Resort & Spa, with an interactive aquarium adventure lagoon and shark island, were announced yesterday in the governor's office. Present were Ted Liu, left, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; Ko Olina developer Jeff Stone; landowner and developer Takeshi Sekiguchi; Mayor Mufi Hannemann; Lt. Gov. James Aiona; and Gov. Linda Lingle.
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Ko Olina Resort & Marina unveiled plans yesterday for a $1 billion interactive aquarium and 25-acre, 1,000-room resort, a project partially underwritten by $75 million in state tax credits.

The Grand Ko Olina Resort, Hotel & Spa will include an oceanfront hotel condominium, time shares and a Hawaiian village surrounding a swim-through lagoon and separate shark tank. The project is patterned after the lavish Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and Discovery Cove in Orlando, Fla.

Visitors to the 5 million-gallon aquarium will be able to visit an underwater dome that provides 360-degree views of sharks, swim in an interactive reef and visit a beach lagoon sealed from the ocean.

"The Grand Ko Olina will help re-brand Oahu as a unique resort destination, just as the Grand Wailea did for Maui," said Ko Olina developer Jeffrey Stone. "It will boost West Oahu's prominence in the visitor industry and add a one-of-a-kind icon to Hawaii that is directly connected to Hawaii's unique ocean environment and culture."

The resort already includes the J.W. Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa, time shares and a golf course.

The state's rebounding economy and visitor industry have fueled growth in the resort and in the population of West Oahu, which grew 89 percent from 1990 to 2000.

It has also brought about the return of one of Ko Olina's original developers, Takeshi Sekiguchi, who is best known for developing the Grand Wailea and the Four Seasons Wailea resorts on Maui.

"My decision to re-enter Hawaii's market was based on the economic recovery of the Japanese economy and the forecast of increased eastbound travel from Asia," said Sekiguchi, who owns the land for the development. "I believe the Grand Ko Olina will serve as a major destination for this revitalized market."

A model of the aquarium lagoon and shark island.
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Project partners have not been announced, but Sekiguchi said Grand Ko Olina will convince investors from Japan and other Asian countries to pump more money into Hawaii projects. The development is likely to break ground this year, with major hotel partners expected to be announced this summer, Stone said. No timetable has been set for completion.

"We are absolutely certain that we have attracted the players who are committed to this project," he said.

Ko Olina's recovery and expansion will create business opportunities, jobs and tourism, said Ted Liu, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

"It brings together the best in our economy," Liu said, referring to the resort's marriage of tourism and marine science technology.

Developers said Grand Ko Olina is expected to add 1,000 jobs, ranging from resort and aquarium operations to marine science research, and Hawaiian culture educational opportunities.

"This resort is exactly what the state needs in terms of diversifying the economy and creating good-quality jobs," said Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who pledged that the expansion of the Waimanalo Gulch landfill would not interfere with development and that it would close in 2008.

The state also assisted the development. Last summer, lawmakers approved a 10-year, $75 million tax credit for the aquarium. Lingle approved the bill but required the resort to spend $2.5 million for job training in the Leeward Coast.

Grand Ko Olina will enlist the expertise of professors from the University of Hawaii's Ocean Science Department and the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association and will share some exhibits with the Waikiki Aquarium, Stone said.

Ko Olina's aquarium is not expected to hurt business at the Waikiki Aquarium, which caters to a large share of walk-ins from Waikiki hotels, aquarium Director Andrew Rossiter said during an interview last spring.

"I don't think it will impact the Waikiki Aquarium, because the objectives and audiences are different," Rossiter said.

Ko Olina developer Jeff Stone, right, and Takeshi Sekiguchi, landowner and an original developer of Ko Olina Resort, looked over a model of the planned $1 billion Grand Ko Olina Resort & Spa yesterday in the governor's office.
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[Urbanguy]

Hello, long time no see people here are some updates for Honolulu!

Kaka'ako is on the rise!

Here's a map of Existing and planned Kaka'ako residential projects
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Sanford Zalburg gets a great view of Kaka'ako and its changing face from the lanai of his condo at Pi'ikoi Street and Ala Moana. The neighborhood is undergoing a residential building boom that is transforming the light industrial area into a desirable urban village.
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Arshad Khan didn't hesitate when someone asked the best reason to live in Kaka'ako.

The location is excellent, he said. "It's close to Waikiki, downtown, everywhere."

Khan, a 34-year-old real estate office worker who has lived in a Kaka'ako rental apartment for the past six years, is just one of thousands of people in the past few years who have traded the traditional dream of a yard and home in the suburbs for a place in town.

And there's going to be a lot more of them as the area continues to be transformed from a rundown light industrial tract to a highly desirable urban village.

City planners predict that Kaka'ako will be one of the fastest-growing residential areas on O'ahu over the next 25 years, with more than 25,000 people moving in, increasing the population by 178 percent, behind only several residential areas between 'Ewa Beach and Ko Olina.

Residential development was always part of the vision for Kaka'ako, long before people started talking about smart growth or the new urbanism, said Daniel Dinell, executive director of the Hawai'i Community Development Agency, which supervises the area's development.

Now, you're finally starting to see the manifestation of that vision, Dinell said. "The several hundred million dollars invested in the infrastructure is starting to pay off."

Almost a dozen residential projects, including rental units, urban lofts and $1 million-plus condos are being built or are on the drawing boards for the area, which for decades languished while communities on its flanks, Ala Moana, Waikiki and downtown Honolulu, flourished.

Luxury living in town


The Ko'olani luxury condominium complex, at right, is among the dozen or so residential projects under construction in Kaka'ako.
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Much of the current movement is driven by Mainland investors or older Hawai'i residents eager to move back into town after years of fighting traffic and other problems in the suburbs.

Eighty percent of our buyers are local empty-nesters, said Larry Fukunaga, the owner's representative for 909 Kapi'olani, a high-rise project set to start construction this year on the corner of Kapi'olani Boulevard and Ward Avenue.

Most are older residents able to parlay soaring equity in their homes and low interest rates into a suddenly affordable luxurious condominium closer to everything.

These are people who are established and have some money. They want something more comfortable, more convenient and easier to take care of than what they have now, Fukunaga said.

Others worry that the building boom is leaving behind young professional buyers, the same ones who have traditionally driven the return-to-the-city-living trend across the Mainland.

I'd love to be able to live in Kaka'ako, but I can't afford it, said Kelly Irvine, a 28-year-old architect who shares a home in 'Aina Haina.

Most people my age who work in town want to live close by, even if it means living in a smaller apartment. They don't want to spend all their time in a car. Kaka'ako is a great place because it's right next to the theaters, the bars, the beach and the jobs. But the market right now is out of our price range, Irvine said.

Place of potential

Small shops, mostly specializing in auto repair, still do business in Kaka'ako, in the shadow of the luxury high-rises going up in the area near Ala Moana.
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Kaka'ako has always been a place of potential.

Originally swamp land that was often covered with water at high tide, Kaka'ako was filled in and reclaimed in the 1880s to make way for new residences close to a growing downtown Honolulu.

Through the first half of the 1900s, it was a dynamic, growing, multi-racial residential community that included Hawaiian, Japanese, Portuguese, Caucasian, Chinese and Filipino families living in ethnic camps ranging in size from a few homes to several blocks.

Much as planners today anticipate Kaka'ako becoming a one-stop place to live, shop, work and entertain, the area 75 years ago was seen as something of a gathering place for sports, church groups, bon dances and other cultural activities.

About 1945, though, the area went into a long, steady decline, with more and more people moving to the suburbs, Dinell said.

By the 1970s, most of the residents were gone and the area took on a run-down, low-grade industrial look that contrasted sharply with the growth going on in all directions. That's when the state stepped in, creating the HCDA and giving the agency wide authority to plan and develop a new Kaka'ako, first by putting in hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements to area sewers, streets and other infrastructure.

After several false starts, the plan finally seems to be working.

Over the years there were a lot of announcements of plans that never came to fruition, said John Breinich, who moved into the area in 1991 and is head of the Ala Moana-Kaka'ako Neighborhood Board. "Now, it seems like all at once things are finally happening. It's nice to be in a community that has life and growth and expansion."

Many observers credit the latest residential growth to development of commercial and other projects in the makai part of the district. Those include the new campus of the University of Hawai'i medical school, a new cancer research center and a planned waterfront complex fronting Kewalo Basin.

Most of us thought the area would be developed a lot sooner than this, said Fukunaga, whose first job out of college was an HCDA planner in 1979. "It took 25 years, but at last, the makai district is reaching a critical mass and the residential projects are starting to pop up on the mauka side."

Not quite like home

An empty lot at Kapi'olani Boulevard and Ward Avenue soon will be home to 909 Kapiolani, a mixed-use high-rise development.
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With the boom, though, some planners worry that the area's design controls will be lessened in a rush to develop, sacrificing a pedestrian-friendly feel for wider roads, and sacrificing more affordable housing for quick profits.

A lot of us with children like the idea that they could live in the city and enjoy it as much as we do, said Loren Matsunaga, a principal with the architecture firm Urban Works, which has had its offices in Kaka'ako for more than 20 years. "But right now it isn't affordable."

There are also fears that the area will lack a cohesive and pedestrian-friendly design as separate areas are built up in spurts by different landowners and more and more cars fill the area without more public transportation.

Dinell said HCDA has done a good job of encouraging diversity and design.

There's a perception that it's only about luxury high-rises, but that's not the case, he said. "Over the years about 30 percent of the units have been reserved for rentals or affordable sales. There are a lot of silent buildings scattered through the area."

The agency also has insisted that pedestrian-friendly design elements be incorporated into both public and private projects.

You can see it in the infrastructure. We've got very generous sidewalks, big shade trees and street-front designs that encourage activity, he said.

With increasing population, new problems are cropping up.

Noise and congestion are on the rise and Kaka'ako still lacks a supermarket of its own (not counting the old-time Hamada Store on Queen Street) and a traditional public elementary school (there are several private schools and a public charter school) within its district borders.

Those are going to come, Dinell said. "There's a recognition that a school will be necessary at some point in the future, though it may not look like a traditional suburban school with a parking lot and playing field."

All of that development, though, is proving attractive to residents able to afford the luxury condos being built or fortunate enough to find an affordable residence in the area.

It's noisy as hell sometimes, but I wouldn't think of going anywhere else, said 88-year-old

Sanford Zalburg, who bought a unit in the area's first high-rise building, 1350 Ala Moana, 33 years ago and hasn't left.

We're lucky we found an affordable place. Otherwise, no way, added Russell Sunabe, a 50-year-old community college teacher who lives in a two-bedroom condo on Waimanu Street with his wife and two children.

We like the location and really feel comfortable here. Sometimes, I still wish I had a big home or a yard, but I'm not willing to live in Kapolei or 'Ewa to do that, he said.

:D


Zoning change sought for 'A'ala condos

A Mainland developer wants to build a 22-story condominium tower on North Beretania Street across from 'A'ala Park, but needs a zoning change to move forward with what would be the third new residential development in the area.

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Developer 3D Investments LLC is asking the city to rezone two adjacent properties at 230 and 254 N. Beretania St. from B-2 community business district to BMX-3 community mixed use district. Consultant Keith Kurahashi, who will give a presentation on the project tonight at the Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board, said the change would allow for a mixed commercial and condo project.

The zone change is needed so they can put in a mixed use development, Kurahashi said. "Right now they would be allowed to build an office building or something like that and they want that residential component."

The property stretches from College Walk to 'A'ala Street along Beretania Street. A two-story commercial building called the Town Square is now on the property and would be torn down. The square is home to several small businesses, including the offices of the Hawai'i Lupus Foundation and the Honolulu Weekly newspaper. The former Kobayashi Hotel, now closed, is in a separate four-story building on the property. It would also come down.

The condo project would have businesses on the ground floor with 204 one- two- and three-bedroom fee-simple units on 21 floors, Kurahashi said.

The developer is required to go before the neighborhood board with the project before a zoning change application is filed, he said. The project also needs approvals from the city Planning Commission and the City Council.

Kurahashi said there is no timeline for construction or estimated cost yet.

Chad Hiyakumoto, who owns 'A'ala Park Boardshop on nearby College Walk, would be forced out of his moderately priced retail space. Being close to the park and his skateboarding customers is critical to his business.

I'd like to still be able to have a shop somewhere near there, Hiyakumoto said. "It would kind of suck if I just got kicked out and didn't have any place of business anymore."

Another residential condo project is being built by a group called Downtown Affordables on North King Street on the makai side of 'A'ala Park.

Vito Galati, a partner in Downtown Affordables, said the 23-story, 251-unit affordable condominium project called 215 N. King St. is sold out. He said the building will be topped off next month and tenants will move in by December.

Galati said the location near downtown and the tight real-estate market makes building residential condos a perfect fit for the 'A'ala area.

I think people are interested in being in town and having all of the amenities that town has and avoiding the long commutes and time in your car, Galati said. "For people who work in town, to be able to have a five-minute walk to work and back home is saving hours every day."

The third project is a $35 million, 13-story affordable housing residence for seniors near the historic O'ahu Railway & Land Terminal building financed through the state Housing and Community Development Corp. and being developed by Pacific Housing Assistance Corp.

For years 'A'ala was a dangerous, rundown area until the city completed a $2.3 million park renovation project in 2003. There are still homeless people that live in the park and drug dealers lurking in the area, but with new basketball courts, a skateboard rink, playground equipment and a general cleanup, the park is much more family friendly.

Galati said with hundreds of new units being built near the park and families moving in, the area will only get better.

With three projects and a couple thousand new residents that have pride of ownership and are committed to their community, it has to have a big impact, he said. "'A'ala has been a transition area for a long time, and I think we are going to see it stabilize into a nice residential community."


Here are some other future developments for the Honoulu area:

Downtown Block J units sell quickly
Capitol Place year 2007 @ 39 stories

Construction of Capitol Place on the downtown lot known as Block J is to begin by the end of the year and be completed late in 2007.
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The attraction of living on the edge of downtown Honolulu drew hundreds of people to buy nearly all the units in the latest planned high-rise condominium to hit the Hawai'i market.

In just under a week, buyers snapped up about 350 of the 394 units at Capitol Place for an average price of nearly $660,000. The 39-story tower is planned for the site of a former municipal parking lot known as Block J, at Queen Emma and Beretania streets.

Capitol Place sales occurred in a flurry mostly May 7, when the on-site sales office opened to a crowd estimated at 400. Buyers this week continued to whittle away remaining inventory to about 40 units as of yesterday.

The response was a reminder of just how strong Hawai'i's real estate market continues to be, with demand from well-heeled investors as well as homeowners able to trade up because of accelerating home values and low interest rates.

It's amazing, said Jodee Farm, a Prudential Locations agent representing a buyer considering a Capitol Place unit yesterday. "The appeal is that it's brand new, the market is hot and everybody wants something."

Mark Mord bought a $1 million penthouse yesterday with the intent to move from his townhome at Ko Olina Resort & Marina when the high-rise is completed in about two years.

I wanted to get closer to town, he said. "The commute is just too much. Some days it turns into an hour and a half."

Mord, who is in the commercial real estate financing business and plans to sell a Mainland property he owns to help finance his Capitol Place unit, also said Honolulu's central business district has much more in the way of shopping, dining and entertainment compared with West O'ahu. "There's just not a lot going on out there right now," he said.

Dave Stoesser, a Mililani Mauka resident working for a distribution company, said he avoids messy Central O'ahu traffic but likes the appeal of having the amenities of a high-rise condo.

Condo living is different, he said while checking out Capitol Place offerings. "It's all-around convenient. It's almost like hotel living."

Capitol Place is designed with a dog park, media and music rooms, playground, pool, jacuzzi, gym, cabanas with barbecues and a yoga/Pilates studio. Monthly maintenance fees range from about $300 to $700.

The ground floor of the building is designated to be a Honda showroom for Pflueger Group, which bought the land from the city last year for $10.5 million and partnered with The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group LLC to develop the building.

There also will be 150 public parking stalls at municipal rates, which was part of Pflueger's agreement with the city.

If the project sells out at current prices, condo-unit proceeds would total about $260 million. A development cost estimate was not available.

Late last year, unit prices were estimated to start in the high-$200,000 range, but fast-rising home values led the developer to start sales at $345,000. The price for 1-bedroom units go as high as about $450,000. Two-bedroom units range from $430,000 to about $800,000. Three-bedroom units started at $675,000 and top out at about $1.1 million.

Because of the anticipated response, the developer placed all the units for sale at once as opposed to selling in phases, which other high-rise condo developers have done.

The way it was this (past) weekend, there are a lot of people ready and willing to move downtown, said Donald "Matt" Pakkala, a Capitol Place sales agent.

Remaining units are reserved for owner-occupant buyers who must affirm they plan to live in the unit for at least one year.

Construction is scheduled to start by the end of the year and be completed toward the end of 2007.
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For More info visit: Capitol Place (http://www.capitolplace.com/)


Kapolei Parkway Shops

http://www.buildingindustryhawaii.com/images/dev8.jpg

PF Changs Bistro @ street level of the U/C 418 ft Hokua Tower

http://www.buildingindustryhawaii.com/images/dev3.jpg


Outrigger opts for luxury condos

Hawai'i's red-hot housing market has led Outrigger Enterprises to eliminate hotel rooms from a planned tower at its Lewers Street redevelopment project, instead dedicating the new Waikiki high-rise to luxury residences.

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The estimated $200 million tower that Outrigger originally envisioned as an 890-room hotel probably will be built as 300 to 400 fee-simple condominiums with parking, according to the latest version of the company's Waikiki Beach Walk project.

Outrigger said it is negotiating with a shortlist of condo developers, most of them from the Mainland, to help build the tower, and expects to make a selection within 30 days.

Condo prices have yet to be set, but would likely be more than $1 million for the best units.

It is the second major change for the planned 350-foot tower on Saratoga Road fronting Fort DeRussy, and would reduce the number of hotel rooms in Wai-

kiki while creating luxury residences in an area typically populated with tourists. Outrigger will demolish two hotels with 210 rooms to make way for the tower.

Tourist district losing rooms

Outrigger's planned Beachwalk high-rise:

Original plan — 890 hotel rooms

Latest plan — 300 to 400 luxury condos

Estimated cost — $200 million

Projected construction start — first half of 2006

The tower is one component of Outrigger's $460 million redevelopment of several old hotels along Lewers Street, Saratoga Road and Kalia Road.

Construction recently began on some components of the project, which includes a retail and entertainment complex, conversion of two hotel towers to time-share use and upgrades of two hotels under the Embassy Suites brand.

The concept for the new high-rise was revised more than a year ago with the expectation that units would be a mix of mostly residential condos, condos for hotel use, some hotel units and possibly time-share.

But the dramatic run-up in home prices and demand for luxury condos over the last year or so made a completely residential tower easier and less risky to finance, said David Carey, Outrigger president and CEO.

Carey said the recent failure of a bill in the Legislature to extend and increase a hotel redevelopment tax credit expiring this year was a factor in planning the tower. However, even had the bill passed, building a hotel would not have been as financially attractive as a condo, he said.

I think the destination would be better served by a high-rise hotel, Carey said, adding that economic realities are dictating otherwise.

Outrigger is not identifying potential development partners. Construction could start in the first half of next year. If condos are to be built, sales could begin sooner.


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Robertson Properties Group, the real estate arm of the Los Angeles multiplex theater company Pacific Theatres Corp., will begin construction on a new two-story retail complex at the site of the old Waikiki 3 Theatre this spring. The new 30,000 square-foot, $10 million complex, called The Center of Waikiki, will include a Whaler’s Market, Foot Locker, California Pizza Kitchen and a steak and seafood restaurant. According to Robertson Properties Group Vice President Greg Swedelson, the property “has an unparalleled customer base, with foot traffic on Kalakaua exceeding 25,000 people per day.”

The Center was designed by Architects Hawaii Ltd., which also designed The Shops at Wailea on Maui. The building will retain its illuminated Waikiki sign, to be refurbished during construction. The general contractor is Pankow Companies. Construction will begin soon, and the project is expected to be complete by spring 2006.


Trump plans to build in Waikiki

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One of the biggest names in real estate and reality television, Donald J. Trump, plans to put his mark on Waikiki as a development partner for a luxury condominium tower of Outrigger Enterprises.

The billionaire businessman plans to erect a signature building that could define a new level of luxury for high-rise living in Hawai'i where home prices have soared to staggering levels over the past year.

The ever-innovative New York developer has arranged to buy land at the makai end of Saratoga Road from Outrigger and to build the proposed 350-foot tower with Beverly Hills, Calif.-based investment and development firm Irongate Capital Partners, according to people familiar with the deal.

The tower is expected to cost around $200 million, have 300 to 400 residential units and be branded with the Trump Tower name or something similar reflecting the cachet of the real estate mogul and star of NBC's hit show "The Apprentice."

Outrigger has yet to finalize a contract for the project, so the tentative deal could fall apart. If final terms can be reached, completion of the transaction is expected in July.

Mel Kaneshige, Outrigger senior vice president, declined to say if Trump is involved in the high-rise project.

Outrigger, which conceived the tower as part of its $460 million Waikiki Beach Walk redevelopment of several old hotels mainly along Lewers Street, said earlier this week that it was negotiating with a shortlist of developers and expected to make a decision in about 30 days.

Kaneshige would not say if a tentative selection had been made. "We narrowed the field," he said, adding that the company's policy is not to announce deals until they are firm.

Trump was not available for comment yesterday, but his assistant, Norma Foerderer, said she was not aware of such a deal with Outrigger.

A representative of Irongate could not be reached yesterday.

Two people familiar with Outrigger's effort to find a developer for its high-rise confirmed Trump's role, but asked not to be identified to preserve good business relationships with involved parties.

If Trump and Irongate complete their deal with Outrigger, it could bring a new level of luxury to high-rise living in Hawai'i.

Trump is known for pushing the limit on opulence, setting a record last year for New York condo sale prices at about $3,000 a square foot with a $13 million penthouse deal at Trump Park Avenue.

I think he will bring some flare and excitement to the market, said Mary Worrall, owner of the local upscale residential real-estate brokerage firm Mary Worrall Associates. "He has such a following. I think it's very exciting."

A Trump tower would be the first big real-estate project in Hawai'i for the New York deal maker who persuaded the state to host the 1998 Miss Universe Pageant. The state and businesses contributed more than $5.3 million in money and services to Trump and the pageant organizers in return for repeated mentions and photographs of Hawai'i in the telecast.

Trump has developed a handful of luxury residential projects from the 90-story Trump World Tower, billed as the tallest residential tower in the world, to the $5 billion commercial-residential Trump Place under development with an initial planned phase of 5,700 residential units.

In January, Trump announced plans for a $220 million "ultra-luxury" condo in Tampa, Fla.

We are developing a signature landmark property so spectacular that it will redefine both Tampa's skyline and the market's expectations of luxurious condominium living, he said in a statement.

Unit prices at Trump Tower Tampa with hotel-like services, spa and fine art range from $700,000 to more than $5.5 million.

Hawai'i's housing boom over the past couple of years has demonstrated strong demand for such residences as Hokua, the nearly sold-out high-rise overlooking Ala Moana Beach Park where prices initially ranged from $550,000 to $5.5 million.

Outrigger cited the run-up in home prices and sales volume in helping to convince the company to develop its new tower as a residential condo instead of the originally envisioned hotel.

Worrall said Hokua, which is still under construction, reset the bar for luxury high-rise condos in the market, and that a Trump tower could build on that.

He's got his name on so many buildings in New York, and they all seem to be so successful, she said.

Trump in recent years has increasingly expanded outside New York.

Trump partner Irongate entered the Hawai'i market a year ago with a purchase of three acres in Waikiki's Hobron Lane area from Outrigger. Irongate sought approvals to build an upscale condo high-rise expected to break ground in June.

Outrigger has said construction of the envisioned Beach Walk tower — which will replace the Ohana Royal Islander hotel, Ohana Reef Lanai hotel and Hale Pua Nui apartments — could start in the first half of next year.

[FlyersFan118]

wow, I didn't know Honolulu had so much going on! looks pretty good! Trump's an ass though. lol

yay for Honolulu!!

[NEWNANGuy]

Here's some other stuff i found....

Unity Office Tower Complex - status unkown
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/hitownhi/images/unity%20house%20office%20tower%20complex.jpg



i love this tower.....kinda reminds me of the GasLight building in L.A. for some reason...i love towers that have curves with glass façades

any new news on this tower?

[R@ptor]

Nice projects...but they should really get rid of this stupid height limit. A skyline looks boring if almost all building have the same height. Honolulu definitely needs a couple of buildings in the 600-800ft range.

[Urbanguy]

Condo proposal gets green light

A rendering of the Keola La‘i, expected to be completed in early 2008. In return for building above the area’s 45-foot height limit, developer A&B Properties will sell 63 units at below-market prices.
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Local developer A&B Properties yesterday received approval to move ahead with building a planned 42-story residential condominium on a 2.7-acre site in Kaka'ako between Emily and South streets.

The state Hawai'i Community Development Authority board approved terms for A&B to develop the 352-unit project, including the sale of several units at below-market prices and contributing $1.3 million to help pay for public facilities.

A&B said it plans to begin sales through Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties later this month, and start construction early next year. The tower, named Keola La'i, is projected to be completed in early 2008.

If started as expected, Keola La'i will become the sixth residential high-rise under construction in Kaka'ako, the present hotbed of condo construction on O'ahu. At least two more towers are also planned in the area.

Stanley Kuriyama, A&B Properties chief executive officer, said the company is excited to participate in the development of "Honolulu's new urban village."

Keola La'i prices are expected to start at about $340,000 for one-bedroom units, $445,000 for two-bedroom units and $695,000 for three-bedroom units — on up to the mid-$800,000s for the most expensive three-bedroom unit.

The tower, to be clad in an exterior of bronze glass and metal panels, is designed atop a four-story podium with 687 parking spaces, recreational amenities and 10,000 square feet of retail and commercial street-front space.

Under rules of the state agency that governs redevelopment in Kaka'ako, A&B sought to build above the area's normal 45-foot height limit in return for providing below-market units or cash for the state to build more affordable housing in the area.

A&B also will pay about $1.3 million to the agency to pay for public facilities such as parks and public parking in the area. That sum is derived from an agency formula based on the size of A&B's project.

The below-market housing rule requires A&B to provide 20 percent of units at below-market prices, or an equivalent in cash.

A&B agreed to sell 49 two-bedroom units for an average of $358,317 and 14 one-bedroom units for an average of $290,643, representing a 19 percent discount from comparable units at market prices.

In lieu of providing another seven below-market units, A&B will pay $1.2 million to the agency, which uses impact fee assessments to develop affordable housing projects.

The below-market condos will be available to qualified buyers who have not owned a home in the past three years and earn less than 140 percent of the Honolulu median annual income for a family of four, or $94,850.

Qualified buyers also cannot sell the unit for two years, and must share proceeds from a sale anytime thereafter with the agency under another formula.

The below-market housing provision is part of the agency's stated aim to provide housing for a "gap" group of people who make too much to qualify for government assistance but not enough to qualify for a loan for an at-market home.

A&B initially proposed offering 70 mostly one-bedroom units at below-market prices, over which agency staff negotiated a settlement for more two-bedroom units and at lower prices.

Agency board member Stanley Shiraki, deputy director of the state Budget & Finance Department, withheld his approval of Keola La'i's development permit because he wanted more information on how below-market housing terms were negotiated.

There also was some concern raised by member Paul Kimura of City Fender and Body Service over loss of private parking spaces currently leased on the otherwise undeveloped lot, but agency staff said it is working to add public parking throughout Kaka'ako.

Kimura also withheld his support, and Keola La'i was approved by a 7-2 vote.

A&B Properties, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin Inc., acquired the site bordered by South, Queen, Kawaiaha'o and Emily streets last August for $14 million from a subsidiary of Japan-based Motoi Kosan, according to property records.

A&B announced its general idea to build a condo on the site at the time, more than a decade after Motoi Kosan's plan to build a high-rise condo on the site fell through.

Motoi Kosan bought the block in 1989 near the height of the Japanese investment bubble, but during foundation construction in 1992, the speculative real estate bubble popped and the project was abandoned.

A&B said it will build its tower on 1,300 concrete piles already in the ground.

Keola La'i will be A&B's third condo tower in Honolulu in the past few years. The company has sold out its 100-unit Lanikea project under construction in Waikiki, and is also a partner in the Hokua luxury tower in Kaka'ako that is nearly sold out.


New Kapi'olani high-rise planned

The developer of the twin-tower Moana Pacific condominium on Kapi'olani Boulevard is proposing to build another residential high-rise about a block away, adding to the condo building rush that's helping feed Hawai'i's hot housing market.

KC Rainbow Development seeks to build the high-rise at the vacant Kapi'olani site that once was home to the Flamingo Chuckwagon restaurant and more recently envisioned for a $25 million home furnishing and design center.

The plan is part of a proposed three-way agreement with the Chuckwagon site owner and the state in which the home furnishing and design center would relocate to Moana Pacific's high-rise while the state gets parking for the public and small businesses that are losing valuable street parking at the diamondhead end of Queen Street.

The proposal is scheduled to be reviewed today by the board of the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, the state agency guiding redevelopment in Kaka'ako.

The development agency's staff is recommending the board approve the plan.

Daniel Dinell, agency executive director, called the proposal a "win-win" solution that helps fulfill a previous request from board members to include more pedestrian-friendly businesses in ground-level commercial space at Moana Pacific.

The agency board previously encouraged Moana Pacific developer KC Rainbow to include commercial tenants more attractive to passers-by, but agency development rules prohibited retail uses. Only light-industrial use was permitted and could have resulted in tenants such as food catering and copy shops.

KC Rainbow previously said its twin-tower condo, which is under construction, might include an 80,000-square-foot light-industrial component as an optional future phase, though it was uncertain whether appropriate tenants could be found that fit well with the condo.

In May the agency changed its rules to allow Kaka'ako property owners to transfer allowed uses between unconnected sites.

To take advantage of the rule change, KC Rainbow proposes to purchase the Chuckwagon site from the owner of INspiration Furniture, Thomas Sorensen, who planned to develop the design center anchored by an INspiration store.

KC Rainbow would be allowed to transfer the retail use of the Chuckwagon site to its Moana Pacific project. It would provide public parking, a qualified industrial use, on the Chuckwagon site.

Under terms of the agreement, Sorensen would develop the commercial component of the Moana Pacific project. He could not be reached for comment to say whether the plan for the design center would significantly change.

As initially envisioned, the design center was to feature a flagship INspiration store along with other retailers selling home and office products. Project backers tried to interest Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma, but no tenant announcements were made.

Foundation construction began in 2002, but was halted, and the project previously expected to be finished in 2003 was suspended.

Allen Leong, operations director for KC Rainbow, said a design center addition to Moana Pacific would create more interaction between the public and the project. "It'll make our block more attractive," he said.

Leong said details are still being worked out for the proposed residential tower. "We're still closely watching the market to see where the buyers still are," he said, indicating that pricing units under $500,000 is attractive but will depend on construction costs.

Obviously, it's a good location, but we really don't know how it's going to shape up yet, Leong said.

KC Rainbow proposes to turn a portion of the Sorensen property into a 100-stall parking lot by Sept. 1, and lease 80 stalls to the state so it can provide public parking in part to replace stalls being lost by improving the diamondhead end of Queen Street.

If KC Rainbow develops the residential condo as envisioned, the state would have an option to purchase or lease 100 stalls in the project's parking structure for long-term use.

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Condos planned for site of Wave Waikiki

Architect Paul Thoryk has bought a 2.2-acre parcel where he plans to build 280 luxury residential units

After 25 years at its Waikiki home, the popular Wave Waikiki nightclub faces the prospect of closing to make way for a condominium development in Waikiki.
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A San Diego architect has bought one of Waikiki's last large land parcels and plans to build a 28-story condominium and retail tower on the site, which includes the popular Wave Waikiki nightclub.

The 2.2-acre triangular lot fronting Kalakaua Avenue, which contains a parking lot, two empty low-rise buildings and the Wave, has been the site of much speculation since it was listed last summer for $17.5 million.

It seems like everyone that has a project going in Hawaii has contacted me about this property, said Joel LaPinta, the Hilo-based commercial Realtor who marketed the site for Los Angeles-based owner Oaktree Capital Management LLC. "I'm still getting calls."

Redevelopment and renovation projects in Waikiki combined with intense demand for condos in Honolulu and prevailing low interest rates to make the site ideal for a residential developer.

It's a good location and the site is large enough to do a project with enough size to be economically feasible, LaPinta said.

The property was under contract last fall to be sold to another developer, but plans fell through because the site, which is zoned for residential use, didn't fit the business model, he said.

The buyer, Paul Thoryk has sent tentative plans to the Waikiki Neighborhood Board and is slated to present his concept to the board on July 12. Thoryk could not be reached for comment.

According to Thoryk's prospectus, plans include a 280-unit luxury condominium tower, called the Puaena, which will sit atop a base containing six levels of covered parking, a street-level lobby and an amenities floor, which will include a health spa, day lounge, multimedia theater, cocktail lounge, game room and business/conference center.

Also on the site will be 10,000 square feet of retail space, an 8,000-square-foot restaurant, a tiki village containing small shops and carts, and a tropical zen garden, with waterfalls, koi ponds and pools.

Robert Finley, chairman of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, said he'll be sad to see the Wave, a Waikiki mainstay, go. However, Finley said he welcomes revitalization of the tourist corridor.

As you drive into Waikiki, one of the first things that you see are abandoned buildings. Replacing them with a beautifully landscaped property would an improvement, Finley said.

In the past, the board has gotten complaints about vagrants and drug users sneaking into the empty buildings on the site, he said.

The project, which is in the development and financing stages, is projected to open in fall 2007.

It's not yet clear when the Wave nightclub will close.

Jack Law, a part-owner of the Wave, said the club, which has spent 25 years on the site, has been on a month-to-month lease for about a year and a half.

We're one of the last remaining late-night, free-standing nightclubs in Waikiki, Law said.

I think the Wave is responsible for many babies being born, who are adults now.

The Wave also serves as a haven for artists, who decorate the interior walls every six weeks, he said. Law is nostalgic about the club's long run at its Kalakaua Avenue home, but said he'll attempt to relocate in Waikiki, a prospect that has proven difficult for many other nightclub owners, as leasing costs have risen along with the value of the land.

About seven years ago, Law had to find another location for Hula's Bar & Lei Stand after a developer evicted the establishment from its spot on Kuhio Avenue after 23 years.

I was holding my butt with both hands when searching for a place for Hula's, but business there now is better than ever, Law said. "If nightclubs can open in Manhattan, we can open one more in Waikiki."

:D

[Urbanguy]

Here's a little update of some of the projects going on in H O N O L U L U that i know of so far!

H O N O L U L U

Under Construction:

1-Hokua Tower: 40 stories @ 418 ft. (2005)
2-Ko'olani: 47 stories (2006)
3-Moana Pacific East Tower: 46 stories @ 400 ft. (2006)
4-Lanikea at Waikiki: 30 stories @ 300 ft. (2005)
5-215 North King Street: 23 stories

*more to come!

Approved:

1-Moana Pacific West Tower: 46 stories @ 400 ft.
2-Waikikian Tower: 38 stories (2005)
3-Nine O Nine Kapi'olani: 35 stories @ 332 ft. (2007)
4-Ewa Tower Ward Village: 17 stories
5-Kulana Hale Apartments II: 15 stories
6-Keola La‘I 42 stories (352-units) by (2008)

Proposed:

1-World Trade Center Hawaii: 31 stories @ 400 ft.
2-Capitol Place: 39 stories @ 400 ft? (2007)
3-Watermark Waikiki: 37 stories @ 350 ft. (2007)
4-Outrigger Beach Walk Tower: 350 ft.
5-2121 Kuhio Avenue: 28 stories @ 300 ft.
6-Kapi'olani Akahi C.C. Retirement Community: 26 stories @ 294 ft. (2005)
7-800 Nu'uanu Condominiums: 21 stories @ 220 ft. (2006)
8-Royal Kahili Tower: 16 stories @ 208 ft. (2006)
9-The Pinnacle Honolulu: 35 stories @ 350 ft - 400 ft?
10-Iwilei Elderly Housing: 13 stories
11-Donald Trumps Luxury Condo
12-Possible Old Honolulu Advertiser site Tower
13-3D Investments Condo Tower: 22 stories
14-Paul Thoryk 28 stories (280-units) Waikiki condo
15-KC Rainbow's Kapiolani condo project

:D

*More to come!!

:(

Dead:

1-25 stories Kaka'ako Project - the land owner sold the property, not sure what's going to happened to it now?
2-Pacific Quay Office Tower - The Pacific Quay project looks like it will turn into waterfront lofts instead of two towers.
3-Pacific Quay Hotel Tower


**OOps sorry does not include suburbs i think there are at least 2 U/C in the suburbs currently

[Urbanguy]

The Watermark Waikiki Tower

Late takeover of Waikiki high-rise to delay sales

http://img290.imageshack.us/img290/9498/watermarkwaikiki9fs.jpg

A San Diego company has taken over a planned upscale residential high-rise in Waikiki, pushing back sales and disrupting plans by a group of preferred prospective buyers who expected to make reservations yesterday at what was to be the newest condominium to hit the market.

Real estate development firm Intracorp San Diego is buying the land and development plans for The Watermark Waikiki, a 212-unit tower permitted for a 3-acre site bordered by Ala Wai Boulevard, Hobron Lane and Lipe'epe'e Street.

The 38-story project is one of several condos planned or under construction in Waikiki, including plans for a Donald Trump-branded tower on Saratoga Road and a project on land under and around the Wave Waikiki nightclub. Nearly complete is Lanikea on Kuhio Avenue, and nearby the low-rise Loft @ Waikiki expects to start coming out of the ground soon.

The Watermark sale, for an undisclosed price, is expected to close by the end of the month.

The seller is Irongate Capital Partners, a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based investment and development firm that bought the property last year for $15.5 million and planned the Watermark.

Sales were scheduled to begin next weekend, with a group of about 30 VIP clients of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties given the first opportunity to make $50,000 deposits yesterday.

Many of the preferred prospective buyers, like Napa Valley, Calif., librarian Michele Woggon, flew into town for a reception expecting to make reservations.

Woggon said her broker called on Wednesday to say the early opportunity to buy was canceled, though the reception party would go on.

Rug pulled out of our feet is how Woggon described the situation. "This was supposed to be some exclusive thing with 30 VIPs," she said. "What are they planning now for people who came all the way here?"

It's out of Irongate's hands now, said Michael Pepper, an Irongate partner who said the VIP reception wasn't postponed because the deal with Intracorp could have fallen through. Pepper said project brokers were alerted as soon as the deal was assured late Tuesday.

Keith Fernandez, president and chief executive officer of Intracorp San Diego, said he only found out earlier this week about the reservation party, and will try to work with the group.

Obviously we want them as buyers, he said. "Certainly we're going to want to put them on a very special list because they made the effort to come here. But we will not be taking reservations."

Fernandez said his firm does not plan to make major changes to the project. "Our plan for the most part is to stay with what (Irongate) has done," he said.

Sales will probably be delayed until between mid-August to mid-September, with construction anticipated to start between October and November.

Prices are likely to be from around $700,000 to well over $1 million. "We're just getting into pricing," Fernandez said.

Intracorp San Diego is an urban residential development firm spun off from Canadian resort developer Intrawest Corp., and has sister companies in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Canada.

In late 2003, Intracorp San Diego explored buying a downtown Honolulu block overlooking Honolulu Harbor with the idea to develop a mid- to upper-market condo, but the plan turned out not to be economically feasible.

Fernandez, who joined the firm in 1997, was born in Hawai'i and is a Punahou School graduate who has worked for Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, Moloka'i Ranch and his own real estate development firm.

Irongate is a private firm with a low profile. The Watermark, previously dubbed The Ala Wai Gateway, was the company's first Hawai'i project.

Earlier this year, Irongate reached a tentative deal to develop a luxury condo with Trump as part of the Waikiki Beach Walk redevelopment by Outrigger Enterprises. That deal is still being finalized.

[northface]

i wish honolulu had more height.

[FlyersFan118]

urgh..nothin over 418' u/c...wow.

Hawaii needs to build UP!!!

[JiminyCricket II]

urb, wur da flock you been? We had a discussion about you over in the nw forum wondering where you were. transition back to portland?

[Urbanguy]

New condo project planned at Ko Olina

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Resort homebuilder Centex Destination Properties said it plans to build a luxury beachfront mid-rise condominium at Ko Olina Resort & Marina with average unit prices at a little more than $2 million.

The 247-unit project fronting Lagoon No. 2 midway between the resort's hotel and time-share complex would be the most expensive home offering at the growing West O'ahu resort, and probably the priciest overall condo project developed on the Island.

"That's a huge price," said Ricky Cassiday, a local housing market analyst who said the project's more than $1,300-per-square-foot typical unit price is probably a record on O'ahu for a new condo project, though several have sold for more at Neighbor Island resorts. The units range from 1,200 square feet to 1,600 square feet.

"It's an ambitious price for — I want to say an ambitious project, but it's not, because it's been realized," Cassiday said.

The development, called Beach Villas at Ko Olina, stands to rack up sales of roughly $500 million, reflecting the strength of Hawai'i's red-hot housing market and the emerging position of the still largely undeveloped resort.

Bruce Sloan, Hawai'i division president for Dallas-based Centex, said the company is selling a home in a resort atmosphere fronting ocean lagoons and nearby golf not far from the cosmopolitan offerings of Honolulu. "You really can't find any place else like that in Honolulu," he said.

Other amenities promoted for the Beach Villas include an exclusive beachfront bar for residents, a fitness center and kitchens designed by world-famous local chef Roy Yamaguchi.

The condo is split between two buildings, a mauka tower rising 15 stories and a makai tower of about eight stories, each with underground parking and a pool.

Sloan said he expects sales for an initial 75 units in the mauka building will begin Oct. 17, with construction to start in December. The first units are scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2008.

Centex expects that buyers will mostly be from the Mainland. Because of the property's resort zoning, buyers will be able to rent out their units as vacation rentals, though Sloan said he expects the large majority of buyers will keep their units for personal use.

Beach Villas is Centex's third residential project at Ko Olina, and could be followed by more, Sloan said. "There's a lot of opportunity out there, and we're working with (Ko Olina master developer Jeff Stone) to bring that opportunity to reality," he said.

Centex first acquired land at Ko Olina in late 2003 and last year began selling the first of 324 townhomes and single-family homes for roughly $600,000 to $1.1 million. The company earlier this year began developing another 174 townhomes at the resort for somewhat lower prices.

Centex plans to build Beach Villas on a 7-acre site, half of which was purchased Sept. 1 for an undisclosed price from firms affiliated with Stone and other major Ko Olina landowner HRT Ltd., an affiliate of The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. The other half of the property sale is expected to be completed later.

The site was previously envisioned for a Ritz-Carlton hotel and then the planned world-class aquarium financed by up to $75 million in state tax credits. The proposed aquarium was recently relocated to a site nearer the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa.

Three or four undeveloped hotel sites remain at the resort, which has been growing in recent years primarily with residential development and a 750-unit time-share complex by Marriott.

Ko Olina was originally envisioned in the mid-1970s by developer Herbert Horita as a $2 billion resort with 10 hotels, a golf course, marina and 3,000 homes.

Horita completed one hotel, four lagoons, a golf course and 280 townhomes before development stalled in the early 1990s. Stone acquired the resort with partners in 1999 and revised the master plan toward lower density development.

Source: Honolulu Advertiser (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Sep/07/bz/FP509070327.html)

Kaka'ako waterfront housing wins approval

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Prime state waterfront land along Kewalo Basin likely will sprout homes after developers vying to remake 36 acres of what was mostly industrial real estate received approval to build and sell residential housing in the area.

The state agency guiding redevelopment of the area known as Kaka'ako Makai amended its rules yesterday to allow homes in the area after considering public testimony that ranged from support in developing an urban village to concerns over restrictions to public ocean and park access.

"We've got to find a balance," said Curtis Crabbe, a contractor who lives on Moloka'i and has bodysurfed the Point Panic surf break next to the Kewalo Harbor channel since 1965. "Keep Kewalo where I can bodysurf till the day I die."

It would be the first housing development makai of Ala Moana in modern times outside of Waikiki. Most of the area's urban waterfront has been reserved for parks and maritime use.

The state Hawaii Community Development Authority views residential development in Kaka'ako Makai as critical to improving its key asset, especially in light of previous failures to push ahead with redevelopment there.

In January, the agency solicited private development proposals. It expects to make a selection among four plans later this month. Details are being kept confidential until after the selection.

'LIKE BAD FAITH'

Some community members at yesterday's hearing suggested that agency directors had already decided on the residential change because the agency's request for proposals suggested developers provide about 300 residential units in their plans. They also recommended roughly 250,000 square feet of entertainment and retail space and 500,000 square feet of public and commercial space.

"It looks like bad faith," said Nancy Hedlund, an Ala Moana resident who opposes residential use makai of Ala Moana and envisions 20-story condominiums walling off the existing Kaka'ako Waterfront Park.

Michael Kliks, an avid paipo boarder and bodysurfer from Honolulu, also opposed the rule change, which increased maximum building heights from 45 feet to 65 feet along the 'ewa edge of Kewalo Basin.

"It's going to be like Waikiki," he said. "You can't see the ocean anymore."

Kliks predicted that allowing residential development makai of Ala Moana would make the ocean and park accessible to only those who can afford home prices that are close to $1 million for several nearby condominiums under construction in Kaka'ako.

"This is just shibai ... about living and working in the area," he said. "How many of you can afford a one-bedroom studio that costs a million dollars?"

The state agency's staff said development proposals will expand public access for decades to the Kewalo waterfront largely occupied by industrial businesses. The agency added that replacing some commercial use with residential will reduce local traffic and create a critical mass of people who will take advantage of whatever else is built there.

The rule change fits with the agency's goal mandated by the Legislature to create a mixed-use community with businesses and residents in Kaka'ako, a combination originally included in the agency's makai area plan in 1983.

Housing was excluded in a plan revision in 1987, then intended to be included in 1994 but never adopted.

Agency staff and developers suggested yesterday that not allowing residential housing with commercial uses wouldn't work as part of a redevelopment project.

"Without the residential component, I can't see this being successful," said local developer Stanford Carr, one of four finalists for the redevelopment opportunity.

The other finalists are A&B Properties Inc., Victoria Ward Ltd. and Kewalo Nui Partners LLC. The winning developer would still have to negotiate a detailed development agreement with the state. Construction could begin as early as fall 2006.

Teney Takahashi, agency director of planning and development, said the sale of state land for housing will help pay for maintaining and expanding public facilities such as parks in Kaka'ako.

"We are trying to balance the expenses of public facilities," he said.

TESTIMONY DIVIDED

About 30 people testified at yesterday's hearing. Among them, opinions were closely divided between those with real estate or development interests who favored residential use, and park users or residents who opposed the change.

The balance slightly leaned toward those supportive of mixing homes with new commercial development in the area, including Eric Crispin, surfer and former director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, and Lowell Chun, the department's community planning chief.

Karl Rhoads, a Chinatown resident, said he looks forward to another urban village in Honolulu where residents such as he and his wife walk to work and the grocery store.

"We live our lives pretty much in a small geographic area," he said. "Traffic is basically irrelevant to us 95 percent of the time."

Developers and planners said integrating residential and commercial uses to revive urban areas has been successful in many Mainland cities, and can help curb urban sprawl, suburban expansion and traffic congestion.

"Honolulu will continue to grow," said Mike Wright, a senior vice president with A&B Properties. "Concentrating residential development ... is in the interest of smart planning and smart urban growth."

Under agency rules, a developer building higher than 45 feet is required to either make 20 percent of residential units affordable for moderate-income families or give the agency an equivalent in cash to build below-market housing in Kaka'ako.

A few opponents of housing in Kaka'ako Makai said they would support dormitories for researchers and students at the new University of Hawai'i medical school in the area, but not high-end condos.

Source: Honolulu Advertiser (http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050908/BUSINESS/509080334)