Outrigger development advances
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
Outrigger Enterprises' $300 million plan to revitalize nearly eight acres of Waikiki was recommended for City Council approval yesterday by the council's zoning committee.
The action means the full council could approve the project at its Nov. 13 meeting, clearing the way for a year of permit processing and eventual groundbreaking in spring 2004.
The committee increased required open space in the project from Outrigger's original 22 percent proposal to 25 percent. And it said the hotel and resort firm should be required to build part of a Waikiki beach promenade in front of its Outrigger Reef property.
The committee added the promenade to a list of other public improvements to be made by the developer in return for city concessions on open space and some other zoning rules.
Outrigger, Hawai'i's largest local hotel chain, plans to raze a half-dozen buildings in the middle of Waikiki and replace them with an entertainment showplace, pedestrian promenade, retail shops and a high-rise.
The project, Waikiki Beach Walk, is expected to attract more tourists and residents, create more jobs and encourage other retailers and hoteliers to upgrade.
Outrigger Vice President Mel Kaneshige said yesterday the company now has purchased two of five parcels it needs to add to its own holdings for the project, has a binding agreement to buy a third and has agreements in principal to acquire the remaining two.
The city supported the project by agreeing to obtain the five parcels by condemnation if the private owners wouldn't negotiate to sell them.
Council zoning committee chairman Duke Bainum said yesterday the city recognized that Outrigger was providing far less than the 50 percent open space which could be required for a planned development project.
But Bainum said the development nevertheless would open up areas previously covered by buildings and would provide an enormous contribution to the local economy as well as pay for a variety of public benefits.
Another condition is that Outrigger build two bus/transit stops on Saratoga Road, at an estimated cost of $500,000.
And the council committee insisted that the company provide the full standard requirement of 1,170 parking spaces, although it said hundreds of those spaces could be leased by Outrigger from the Army's parking areas at Fort DeRussy.
The council committee also recommended that Outrigger give up a four-foot-wide strip of land along its Kalia Street frontage to provide for either a third traffic lane or pedestrian space.
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
