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When it comes to building in Honolulu’s urban core, developers want to go up. And then some. The builders of the Manaolana Place Hotel and Residential Condominium in Waikiki want to build a 400-foot tower on Atkinson Drive — 50 feet higher than what’s allowed. But that’s nothing compared to the Park Kalia-Waikiki tower: Its developer wants to build a 350-foot condo-hotel in an area where buildings are limited to 25 feet — a whopping 325-foot height exemption. And let’s not forget the now-shelved plans to build an iconic 650-foot rental tower in Kakaako.
No doubt those extra feet mean a lot more money for the same building footprint. But regulators should be wary: an exemption here, an exemption there, and soon everyone will expect one.
