Posted at 11:05 a.m., Monday, December 17, 2001
Published on Sunday, December 16, 2001

Project can proceed on Andrade lease land

• Beach Walk will breathe new life into Waikiki

By Joan Brown
and Pam Anderson

As family with long-time kama'aina ties to Hawai'i and a Waikiki landowner, we are enthusiastic supporters of Outrigger Enterprises plans for Waikiki. Revitalization of Waikiki will be good for the district, good for the state and good for the many families who depend on the visitor industry for their livelihood.

We've been associated with the Kelley family for decades, dating back to the 1950s when our father Joe Andrade and his friend Roy Kelley signed the current lease. That lease gives Outrigger Enterprises the right to continue hotel operations on our property until the year 2069. The agreement also calls for lease payments to eventually increase if the property is upgraded.

In fact, in the current plans, Outrigger isn't planning any significant changes to the Reef Tower, which sits on our property. There's nothing in our lease agreement that stands in the way of the proposed project.

Outrigger can say what it wants about landowners asking for too much money. The fact is that we have never offered to sell our property to Outrigger at any price. We don't want to sell our land. It's that basic.

When this matter came before the Honolulu City Council, council members asked that the parties enter into mediation to try to resolve our differences. We are more than willing to do that. Our family is working in good faith to move this project forward in a manner that is fair and equitable to all of the parties involved.

Forcing us to sell our property isn't fair. It isn't equitable and it isn't necessary.

The law on this matter is clear. It says the government's power of eminent domain (condemnation) can only be used to serve the public interest. We don't see how the public interest is served by the government taking the property of small landowners and then selling that land to a private resort developer.

We believe Waikiki revitalization is a good thing. Our family supports Outrigger in its efforts and we want to help move this project forward. But we will not be forced to sell our property to a private resort developer simply because it is financially beneficial for the developer to own rather than lease our property.

Joan Brown and Pam Anderson are Joseph B. Andrade Trust Beneficiaries.