LEADERSHIP CORNER
State developer sees potential in Kaka'ako, Kalaeloa
Interviewed by Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Title: Executive Director
Organization: Hawai'i Community Development Authority, a state agency guiding redevelopment of 670 acres in Kaka'ako and 3,700 acres at Kalaeloa.
Age: 39
High school: Kalani
College: B.S. in political science from Colorado College; graduate studies in international relations at the University of Tokyo.
Little-known fact: Dinell's college summer jobs included salmon roe processor in Alaska, ranch hand in Oregon, staffer for then-Congressman Cec Heftel in Washington, D.C., trail builder at Olympic National Forest in Washington state and overseas division liaison for freight forwarder Nippon Express in Tokyo.
Career background: Started in marketing at Hilton Hawaiian Village in 1989; transferred to Hilton Hotels headquarters in California in 1994 to work on operating strategy, planning and hotel business plans; returned to Hilton Hawai'i in 2001 for government relations work; joined HCDA two weeks ago.
Breakthrough job: Working with Hilton on the Mainland, which exposed Dinell to national and international business activities.
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Q. You've been a career private-sector executive. What led you into public service?
A. It really comes down to a chance to apply some of the lessons learned in the private sector to the public sector to make a real difference for the benefit of the people. This opportunity came, and I'm excited about the momentum in Kaka'ako as well as the potential in Kalaeloa. It's really an exciting opportunity to do something much broader.
Q. How has some of your work with Hilton prepared you for this urban planning job?
A. In Kaka'ako we want to have a mixture of activity and variety of uses — residential, commercial, retail, recreational and so forth. My work at Hilton exposed me to a great variety of those things in the sense of working on retail components, hotel and visitor type components. Even time-sharing is somewhat of a residential component. Bringing all these kinds of things to the table have contributed to the point of view and the perspectives I bring.
Q. In 1998, hotel use was proposed for Kaka'ako makai. Do you favor that?
A. I don't think that hotels make any economic sense in Kaka'ako whatsoever. And for that reason, I don't think it's going to happen.
Q. Kaka'ako redevelopment has been a long work in progress — 28 years since the HCDA was created — and work has been criticized as slow. Yet there is this great amount of development activity now. How do you view Kaka'ako in terms of its transformation?
A. This time has been about setting the stage for successful outcomes. ... What I see is the foundation has been built, and that allows certain things to move forward that are going to spur further economic development and growth.
The best example of that is the John A. Burns School of Medicine, because it could never have occurred unless the groundwork was already laid. Now we're enjoying the dividends from all of that investment, and of course I believe there's going to be tremendous dividends yet to come.
I think people will look back 10 or 15 years from now and really see that 2004 or 2005 was a real big turning point for Kaka'ako because of the private investment that's coming onto this stage that has been set by the state.
Q. What do you think is the best quality of Kaka'ako now?
A. It's the diversity of activity and people. It's an interesting place because of that diversity. People I think are drawn to have a variety of experiences, and Kaka'ako offers everything.
Q. What in your opinion is underappreciated in Kaka'ako?
A. I don't know if it's so much underappreciated, but underknown is Kaka'ako Waterfront Park. It's a beautiful park right on the ocean where you can go on a Sunday afternoon or any day of the week and see families enjoying it. There are people bodysurfing at Point Panic. I think that's the most special spot in Kaka'ako. You'd be surprised how many people don't know it exists. So it's somewhat a secret and I wish more people would come and utilize it.
Q. Do you think the stage of redevelopment at Kalaeloa is at the stage where Kaka'ako was 28 years ago?
A. I think from an infrastructure perspective the parallels are there, because what Kalaeloa needs most right now is a determination of how it could be an economic engine for Leeward and Central O'ahu, and then what type of infrastructure investment needs to be laid in order to turn that into a reality.
Of course Kalaeloa today is not as developed as Kaka'ako was 28 years ago, but from the perspective of infrastructure and the need to invest — that need to set the stage — the parallels are somewhat similar. That's what's really exciting. Kalaeloa has just a tremendous amount of upside potential.
Q. Like more of a blank canvas?
A. Absolutely.
Q. Would you say it's a fair community complaint that the former naval base has pretty much been neglected since it was closed in 1999?
A. I think what we as HCDA and the state need to do is make sure that we give the people hope that Kalaeloa can be a jewel out there. The potential is there. We just need to marshal the resources and set the direction. Clearly there is much, much, much more to be done there.
Q. Do you think the agency (which took over Kalaeloa redevelopment efforts 18 months ago) can speed that?
A. I think with the necessary resources we can absolutely move that along.
Q. Has the agency been allocated planning money?
A. There is a special revolving fund for Kalaeloa, and the balance is a little over $100,000. The resources are quite limited, but we're looking at ways and means to bring more resources to the table ... to do that economic planning and then the infrastructure planning that is required out there.
Q. There obviously are a lot of opportunities in Kalaeloa and Kaka'ako. Is there a bigger role you see the HCDA playing?
A. By encouraging business and new business opportunities, we're helping position Hawai'i as a place to do business, and that's going to benefit the state tremendously as we kind of diversify it as simply being known as a leisure destination. Hawai'i has a great leisure brand. What happens in Kaka'ako, what happens in Kalaeloa, can really make Hawai'i have a brand extension to business as well.
