A revised plan to redevelop part of the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor in Waikiki was approved by a state board Friday, bringing the $20 million project closer to fruition three years after it was proposed.

The project known as Waikiki Landing would add two wedding chapels, restaurants, retail stores, office space, a boat repair facility and fuel dock to land largely just Ewa of the Hawaii Prince Hotel.

Japanese-based developer Honey Bee USA Inc. was selected by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources in 2009 to develop the property a little more than an acre in size after the agency issued a request for proposals in 2008.

Honey Bee significantly expanded a previously approved plan and also asked that the Board of Land and Natural Resources exempt it from zoning rules and a special management area use permit. 

On Friday the board approved the revised project, exemptions and a land lease.

Keith Kiuchi, a local attorney representing Honey Bee, said the developer aims to begin construction in January and finish in August.

"We’re really pleased that it’s moving forward," he said. "I think this is going to be a tremendous project for the state. This is the entrance to Waikiki, and it really needs something."

Waikiki Landing represents a rehabilitation plan for a vacant area that was once home to a convenience store, fuel dock and former Ala Wai Marine Ltd. boat repair facility.

Some Ala Wai boaters have criticized the project, arguing that wedding chapels aren’t compatible with harbor facilities on state land.

"To be blunt: Wedding chapels are neither needed or wanted here," Les Parsons, a harbor tenant, wrote in a letter commenting on Honey Bee’s environmental assessment in 2010. "A truly competent and responsible state boating regulatory agency would never have approved such a nonsensical scheme as has been proffered by a foreign-owned developer."

Honey Bee has said that the wedding chapels and commercial space are needed to subsidize the boat repair and fuel dock operations. "A marine supply store does not have the sufficient ‘critical mass’ to be profitable, as demonstrated by the failure of Ala Wai Marine," the company said in a response to criticism in its environmental assessment.

DLNR solicited private development as a way to upgrade the area at little state expense and to generate revenue the agency can use for much-needed repairs and maintenance. Honey Bee’s lease would generate a minimum of roughly $30 million for the state over the first 30 years of a 65-year lease.

Honey Bee is headed by Hide­aki Shi­ma­kura, a Kyoto-based developer who races yachts in Hawaii and Japan. The company initially proposed a smaller project costing about $10 million but later added more space for boat repairs and retailing.

The present plan includes a four-story centerpiece "Boatyard Building" fronting Ala Moana featuring shops, restaurants and office space.

A two-story wharf building will run parallel to the Ala Wai channel and house restaurants.

One wedding chapel will occupy a two-story structure dubbed the "Canoe House."

A second two-story wedding chapel will be in a building designed to look like a ship extending into the harbor along with finger piers and the fuel dock. This building also will include a convenience store and a training facility for the U.S. national flatwater kayak team.

The boat repair yard, 51 parking stalls and two public restrooms (one with showers) are also included in the project.

Initially, DLNR expected Honey Bee to obtain a zoning variance and special management area permit. But the Legislature last year gave the agency’s board the power to exempt improvement projects at its harbors from zoning and the special permit.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting acknowledged the exemption authority.

DLNR said the uses proposed by Honey Bee are consistent with uses and zoning on adjacent private property.

Bob Finely , chairman of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, said the revised plans presented at a board meeting in July received generally favorable responses from community members.

Finley said the project will cure what has been a lack of quality amenities at the state’s largest recreational harbor. "The harbor needs everything it can get," he said.