UH regents OK sites in Kapolei

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

The University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents, meeting in Lanai City, today approved a 500-acre Kapolei site for a new West O‘ahu campus. The land is adjacent to the Kapolei Golf Course.

A second, 16-acre fast-track interim site in downtown Kapolei between the state and county buildings also received unanimous approval.

Approval puts the university and the region on the verge of realizing a dream that began almost a quarter of a century ago, to create a four-year campus to serve "the large and growing needs for education" in the Kapolei area, where O'ahu's population is expected to grow by as much as 63,000 people in the next 20 years.

Greeting the board action with delight, Sen. Cal Kawamoto (D-Waipahu-Pearl City) said he was prepared to submit a bill in the coming legislative session in January to appropriate $200 million to begin construction on the 500 acres.

"This is what we want and this is what this community deserves," he said.

Approval puts Phase 1 of the $628 million project on track for completion by 2006.

"This has been an enormously complicated and difficult decision involving a whole range of different factors," said Interim Vice Chancellor Karl Kim, a member of the site selection committee that scrutinized at least 16 locations, including a 990-acre parcel that the community had been pinning its hopes on, but which the university said would be prohibitively expensive for infrastructure costs.

"The issue is, how do we serve this community with educational needs that makes sense financially?" said Allan Ah San, construction project czar for the UH system, who headed the site selection team.

The 500-acre site is considered a compromise between the community and university officials. The 16-acre interim parcel is a new wrinkle that would allow UH to establish a presence in Kapolei quickly with a fast-track campus.

But it was an option that left community members puzzled and upset, with some saying they feared it would add to traffic congestion.

"Why don't they put the quickie one next to the golf course and expand from there?" said Jane Ross, long-time member of the Makakilo -Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board. "Why go into town? We didn't like those town sites ... And I'm afraid that 'temporary' doesn't necessarily mean temporary."

Kioni Dudley, vice chair of the board, echoed Ross, saying the community is opposed to any town site and "wants the big one."

"What we want is a university that can be expanded to be the world-class university we want, and that's going to take 500 acres."

The 16-acre site is considered prime urban land in the center of Kapolei.

University officials said a fast-track Phase 1 there would be less expensive to build, with Campbell Estate picking up much of the cost, and would be ready months before the first buildings on the other campus.

The project still depends on legislative and gubernatorial support in the coming years. The land is state-owned, but requires more permitting and new studies that could potentially delay the project, a habitat conservation plan and a quit claim deed from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The smaller parcel simply requires conveyance from Campbell Estate, which has already promised it to the state.

The 500-acre site is bordered by the Kapolei Golf Course, Farrington Highway and a row of Hawaiian Electric power lines that run along the prospective route of a north/south road promised to the community to provide better access that is not yet under construction.

The 16-acre short-term site is in the center of Kapolei between the state building and the city building, and could potentially be built as high as 10 stories, with either underground or on-site parking.

In making its recommendations for the sites to the Finance and Facilities Committee, the university acceded to community wishes in choosing acreage that offered room to expand but would not create traffic problems.

The Kapolei community had rejected two sites suggested by the selection committee this summer — both smaller urban sites that would have required a high-rise campus with higher density.

In response, the university took a second look at all the parcels under consideration, and settled on the Kapolei Makai acreage — a spot approved by the regents in 1993.

The 500 acres, on a grassy plain makai of the ridge where the largest property is situated, would offer room for revenue-producing projects, including housing, said Ah San.

The plan at this point is to "build out" the campus on 300 acres, reserving the remaining 200 acres for revenue plans or expansion as future needs develop.

Because it sits next to Hawaiian Homelands acreage, there is also the possibility of sharing infrastructure costs, Ah San said.

The university estimates that the initial phase of the Kapolei Makai site would cost $177.4 million and serve about 2,750 students. The fully built campus, serving about 7,600 students, is estimated to cost $628.6 million.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.