The state board overseeing development in Kakaako approved a permit to build a seventh condominium tower at Ward Village in a 5-4 vote Wednesday that includes a deadline to complete construction of a public plaza.
Board members of the Hawaii Community Development Authority were narrowly divided partly over the height of the wide base of the 400-foot tower called ‘A‘ali‘i, which developer Howard Hughes Corp. sought to be 75 feet instead of 45 feet under rules applying to the company’s master plan for up to 22 towers covering 60 acres.
Steve Scott, a board member whose family slipper business Scott Hawaii has been in Kakaako since 1955, said the higher base has become a precedent that he doesn’t like.
“We’re getting to the point where we’re building a Grand Canyon of buildings that have 75- to 90-feet heights that are on the street,” he said. “This I think is aesthetically a problem for Kakaako. We are not New York City. We are not San Francisco. We are not Chicago. I think it’s a change that is not totally Hawaiiana.”
A taller base can be approved under HCDA rules that allow for such a “modification” if a practically and aesthetically superior project results without negatively affecting adjacent properties.
Scott voted no with board members Beau Bassett, Wei Fang and Mary Pat Waterhouse.
Board Chairman John Whalen said he felt that not approving the higher base, which has been granted for other towers in Kakaako, would reduce the number of homes in a tower that is to be priced more for moderate-income buyers.
“This is not a project that is in the mold of the luxury towers that have been built so far,” he said.
Hughes Corp. had said that holding to a 45-foot podium height would reduce the number of parking spaces as well as homes wrapping the base. The company said it would be forced to eliminate
123 units in the 751-unit tower and add at least $36,000 to the price of remaining homes.
Whalen voted in favor of the permit with members William Oh, Jason Okuhama, Scott Kami and David Rodriguez.
Oh said the potential loss of affordable homes swayed his decision to approve the additional base height. “I think the justification is definitely met,” he said.
The divided vote followed two public hearings in November and a meeting in December where a decision was deferred. Before Wednesday’s vote, the board spent 4-1/2 hours in a private executive session to deliberate.
One condition for the permit imposed by the board is to complete construction of at least
150,000 square feet of a central public plaza before ‘A‘ali‘i is occupied or within 730 days of the development permit approval.
The timing of the plaza had been raised as an issue previously, with some board members noting that Hughes Corp. committed to it being one of its priorities to be developed in an initial phase.
To date, one luxury tower is finished and three others are under construction at Ward Village. Hughes Corp. also has permits to build two other towers.
HCDA staff said that these ongoing or completed projects represent 37 percent of the density permitted under the Ward Village master plan, and that ‘A‘ali‘i would bring that to 44 percent.
HCDA staff previously proposed that Hughes Corp. start construction of the plaza before ‘A‘ali‘i could be occupied, but the board voted to require completion.
