Two Chinatown projects rejected
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Two developers are criticizing the city's plan to expand the Chinatown Special District across Nu'uanu Stream and lower building height limits, saying the proposal threatens projects in which they have invested thousands of dollars and months, even years of planning.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Both developers say their projects meet present building requirements and that the city is changing the rules in the middle of the game.
Two housing complexes planned near the 'A'ala parking lot may need to be redesigned if the city expands the Chinatown Special District and restricts building heights.
"We've gone through the approval process, all the hearings and selected a developer and are now dependent on city approval," said Bob Hall, acting executive director of the state Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i.
Hall said for a year the city has been sitting on the HCDCH's application for exemptions needed for its $34.7 million, 21-story residential complex for the elderly near the old O'ahu Railway & Land Terminal building.
"What we are planning is a permitted use, within the height and use limits," said Vito Galati, a partner in Downtown Affordables, which plans an affordable residential condominium project that would be 23 stories tall and include 251 one- and two-bedroom units on North King Street where the 'A'ala parking lot sits.
"There are no variances or exceptions necessary to build the project," Galati said.
• Who: The city Planning Commission • What: The city's plan to revise the Land Use Ordinances in the Chinatown Special District will be discussed. • When: 1:30 p.m. Wednesday • Where: Human Resources conference room, City Hall Annex, 550 S. King St.
But city officials said reduced height limits are needed to preserve the view plane and create an appropriate entryway into Chinatown and that both projects, as designed, are unsuitable for the area.
At a glance
"There are ways of achieving affordable housing in a way that's sensitive to the context," said city planning and permitting director Eric Crispin. "In this case it is a very precious and unique asset to Honolulu — Chinatown. These are two of the last large tracts of vacant land surrounding the urban core, which is why it is critical they be designed and built in a way that is sensitive to the entry into our city."
Crispin said regardless of their investments, the developers will have to conform to the special district restrictions and redesign their projects if they want to build.
The proposed expansion of the Chinatown Special District will be discussed at the city Planning Commission meeting Wednesday. If approved, it will move to the City Council. Chinatown's Special District status requires planners to keep the district's low-rise historic character in mind when making improvements or changes.
The plan would expand the special district by 20 acres into Iwilei, adding 'A'ala Park, the historic OR&L train station and the Tong Fat Co. building on North King Street. The plan also includes reducing the building height limit from 150 feet in one area and 200 feet in another to 80 feet.
The city also wants to ease rules in the historic core of Chinatown to allow for artists' lofts.
Representatives for the developers said they were surprised by the city's plans and first heard about the proposal through a Sept. 4 Advertiser article followed by the city detailing its plan at the Downtown Neighborhood Board meeting.
Crispin said notices of the proposal were mailed to all affected landowners when the city filed a request to amend the special district with the Planning Commission in late August.
After hearing Crispin's presentation, the neighborhood board declined to support the plan because of concerns about the expansion, but board members did support the loft aspect of the proposal.
Crispin said both aspects of the plan are needed and cannot be separated.
"It is a package deal," he said. "We believe strongly in both proposals that are being presented. They work concurrently. It would make little or no sense to try and revitalize the urban core while allowing it to be covered up and hidden, to become a pothole, if high-rise buildings are allowed around Chinatown."
Galati said what they are planning is within the rules for the area and not in traditional Chinatown.
"I don't think anybody really views it as Chinatown," Galati said.
Crispin described Galati's project as a "cookie-cutter" plan duplicated from other projects already built and totally inappropriate for the area.
"It is 23 stories high, completely blocking views mauka and makai and would be a monolith at the entry into Chinatown," Crispin said. "The issue with the state is an issue of design. That is why it hasn't been approved by our department. They came to us, we made suggestions and they didn't come back with any response. They are going to have to come back in and redesign."
Crispin said the bottom line is appropriate design and neither project meets that criteria. But with some refinement, both could work, he said.
"We are not changing density, meaning the amount of square footage they can put on the lots. What we are changing is height limits," Crispin said. "You can have a building that is tall and skinny and the rest of the lot open, or you can have a short and wide building that addresses the city sidewalk and livability and walkability of the community. That is what we are trying to regulate: How does it relate to Chinatown and address the entryway into Chinatown?"
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
