UH medical school critical to Kaka'ako proposal
By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Hawai'i Community Development Authority offered detailed plans yesterday for the Kaka'ako waterfront, taking a bold step toward solidifying its efforts to develop the area around the University of Hawai'i biomedical research center.
The board of directors for the authority presented a $131 million residential and retail plan that, in HCDA executive director Jan Yokota's words, attempts to "pull some concepts that have been discussed before into a cohesive business plan for the area."
Although board members have been working on an overview plan for several months, more urgency is being given to it now that ground-breaking for the John A. Burns School of Medicine is scheduled for late October.
"We'd like to maintain the momentum generated by the construction of the medical school," said Yokota.
Yokota and Teney Takahashi, the authority's director of planning and development, who outlined the plans yesterday, emphasized that the ideas, expenditures and revenue projections are "purely estimates at this point."
Some elements of the plan that have been discussed for some time — including mid-priced, low-rise residential buildings that would create an "urban village" and "pedestrian environment" in the area and could generate $11 million to $15 million in sales — are still to be completed. Residential zoning, for example, is needed.
But retail sites in the area have been zoned. And plans to build along the water at Kewalo Basin, and around parking structures with 2,000 to 2,500 stalls, continue to evolve.
Among the development concepts is the idea of lining the base of a parking structure with retail facilities to make the building more attractive and "give it more vitality," said Yokota.
The key component to what the board calls critical mass — bringing a certain number of people to the area each day — is the medical school. Approximately 1,000 to 1,200 faculty and staff are expected to work on the Kaka'ako campus, and 500 to 600 of those jobs will be newly created, according to medical school dean Ed Cadman.
The medical school "will be the catalyst," said Takahashi. Without the medical school, "this plan would be worthless," he said.
Operating costs for the area, including security, tree trimming, repairs and other services that the city does not provide, could reach $750,000 per year.
To offset that, the retail component could bring in $650,000 to $700,000 per year, said Takahashi, who mentioned development of a farmers market as one possibility.
Brian Minaai, state director of transportation, questioned Takahashi about how the makai and mauka ends of the development would be connected.
Takahashi suggested "reworking Ala Moana Boulevard" to slow traffic and possibly using a median strip to make the walk across the street more comfortable and inviting. Discussion about an overpass focused on the feasibility of a bridge lined with retail.
Though several components of the plan discussed yesterday are similar to a larger concept presented last month by New York urban design firm Cooper Robertson & Partners, the ideas offered yesterday came from HCDA's board and focused on the waterfront.
As redevelopment preparations continue, Takahashi said,the authority remains the master developer for the site and infrastructure.
Created in 1976 by the legislature as a quasi-state agency to oversee redevelopment of Kaka'ako, the authority has the power to float bonds to finance projects, condemn land and redevelop property. It may also avoid the request-for-proposal process when engaging private developers.
Yokota said yesterday that some of the money for the master development plan has been appropriated, but not all will come from the state. She added that the development would be completed in stages over a 10-year period.
A final draft will be presented in writing to the authority by the end of September.
The board of directors will then proceed toward approval at its October meeting.
