Streetcar system proposed
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
A Dallas developer, who is designing a commercial and residential development plan for Piers 5 and 6 at Honolulu Harbor, yesterday proposed building a streetcar system linking the waterfront with the rest of downtown, but said the transit project won't happen unless local transportation officials buy into it.
www.portlandstreetcar.org
Kenneth Hughes, of UC Urban, also said he has solicited and received preliminary interest from the nonprofit Trust for Public Land to help acquire Hawaiian Electric Co.'s downtown power plant and turn it into a park.
Kenneth Hughes' proposed commercial and residential plan for Piers 5 and 6 calls for a streetcar network linking the waterfront to downtown. It's modeled after a system in Portland, Ore., that cost $11 million per mile to build.
Both ideas are new developments in an ambitious proposal that faces obstacles in trying to fulfill the state's mission to turn its underused waterfront property into a bustling urban community.
Hughes has been working with the Aloha Tower Development Corp. on a plan to build a residential, hotel and commercial complex just diamondhead of Aloha Tower since February when the state agency agreed to pursue the venture.
Yesterday at an agency meeting, Hughes said he wants to develop a 2-mile streetcar system that he said is affordable and could be linked to a light-rail system the state wants to build, yet compatible with a city plan for bus-based rapid transit.
Hughes said recent meetings with city transportation officials left him hopeful his plan can succeed, though the government's lack of a unified mass-transit vision concerns him.
"I'm optimistic that the opportunity is there. Otherwise I wouldn't continue to pursue it," he said.
The streetcar system would be similar to one in Portland, Ore., using trams guided by rails embedded in the road and powered by electricity delivered by small overhead lines that Hughes said have minimal visual impact.
The Portland system cost $11 million per mile to develop, including the streetcars and a maintenance facility, according to Hughes, and was paid for with money from city and federal governments, parking revenues and improvement district assessments to businesses.
Hughes said he needs public support for the streetcar initiative to move ahead with the estimated $150 million-plus mixed-use project anchored by rental apartments targeted to people willing to pay more to live downtown with convenient mass-transit connections.
The developer said he should know in the next four months whether he has enough support from government leaders and the public, and will make a final determination on continuing his development initiative, which is still preliminary, requiring market and financial analysis.
The Aloha Tower Development board decided in February to move forward with Hughes' concept, but has not entered into any development agreements with him. Yesterday, the board discussed financial and legal aspects of the proposal in private.
City Transportation Services Director Cheryl Soon said a downtown streetcar loop would complement the city's plan for "bus-rapid-transit" run on exclusive and semi-exclusive lanes.
The city early next year expects to start construction of an initial $50 million, 6.5-mile BRT line connecting downtown with Waikiki, and Soon said strengthening the connection between downtown and the waterfront with circulating streetcars would be an additional benefit.
The governor and some state lawmakers don't support the city's plan, and favor more expensive light rail. Both sides have been trying to work out their differences. Hughes said light-rail connections to his proposed streetcar system are essential.
Hughes is a believer in fixed-rail mass transit, having developed a $100 million project in Dallas called Mockingbird Station, which created loft apartments, offices, retail and a multiplex theater out of abandoned buildings next to a light-rail station.
In Hawai'i, Hughes proposes building 200,000 square feet of office space, a 250-room hotel with ground-level retail and restaurants, a ferry terminal and boat slips in addition to 250 or more loft-style residential rentals.
Also part of the plan is taking the parking lot out of Irwin Park, arranging for off-site parking in the Fort Armstrong area, and transforming the power plant into a park.
Hawaiian Electric has indicated it would prefer to keep its plant, though Hughes said the company has been receptive to at least talk about selling.
Hughes is soliciting plant acquisition help from the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit. Part of the mission of the trust, founded in 1972, is pioneering ways to finance parks and open space.
Teresa McHugh, the trust's Hawai'i director, was traveling an unavailable for comment. A representative of the trust at its San Francisco headquarters could not be reached immediately.
If Hughes can realize his plan, it would help fulfill the state's original vision of creating an urban community along the waterfront.
The state has been trying to rekindle redevelopment in the area since an original $700 million, five-phase project stalled after the first phase, Aloha Tower Marketplace, was completed in 1994 by a private development team.
The state recovered development rights three years ago and since has been trying to find someone to continue development.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
