The state’s effort to grapple with the Aloha Stadium redevelopment process has resumed under the just-installed new administration. While forward motion on a project currently in political paralysis is hopeful, the public still needs more details on what Gov. Josh Green has in mind.
The ultimate plan will inevitably involve some sharing of costs and risks between the taxpayer and the developers who get a final contract.
But people still need some assurance that the final deal will give enough weight to the public investment of 98 acres of state-owned land in Halawa and funds up front. In return, there must be enough public benefit, such as affordable housing, as well.
What’s been dubbed the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District (NASED), a multi-use complex in which retail and entertainment attractions would surround a replacement stadium, has been in limbo for the last few months.
Before former Gov. David Ige left office, he put a stop to a planned public-private partnership (P3) for NASED, saying lawmakers had put $350 million in place to build only the stadium. This should be handled under a conventional design-build contract, he said, allowing the mixed-use real estate development to follow separately.
Ige, who could have assumed a key leadership role in this process long before suddenly pulling the plug, promised to unveil a more detailed plan soon thereafter. He never did.
Now at least the outlines of such a plan are due in short order from Green, who did signal during his campaign that he generally supported the NASED plan with a P3 approach. So his statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Saturday, in which he underscored his view that a new stadium is a needed facility for the state, did not come as a complete surprise.
But the governor needs to heed warnings to proceed with caution. One of these came last week from House Speaker Scott Saiki that the public could be on the hook for more costs than what is assumed in a typical P3 project.
That, Saiki said, is because what’s typical is a private developer fronting construction costs and recouping the investment from revenue generated by the project. There is some doubt that NASED will generate enough profits to cover costs, he said: The last version of the request for proposals did not require private parties to assume the cost of the project.
Saiki is rightly concerned that costs will climb and that, as with the city’s rail project, taxpayers will be left holding the bag.
So far, Green has pledged to build the stadium under a streamlined process and to focus on affordable housing as a component of the adjacent mixed-use development. Streamlining is good. The estimated 2027 completion date is a long time to wait for a facility needed for years.
But how precisely this would be structured needs further explanation, before the general public, before the 2023 Legislature begins its work.
Green is starting his first term with a fiscal surplus, which is easily depleted and unlikely to be soon replenished. This is the year the state will need to lock in its investment and make the best deal it can. It may make sense to get an agreement from the developer to handle stadium maintenance at a set cost, but that likely will require more funds than already allotted.
And whether to link the two contracts — directing some revenue from the surrounding commercial development toward maintenance of the stadium, for example — must be considered.
Finally, there must be a substantial measure of affordable housing when the final deals are inked. Before the election and after, Hawaii’s housing needs have been paramount. This opportunity to fulfill them, on public land, simply can’t be missed.