Support sought for harbor project

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Dallas developer UC Urban proposes building 550 loft-style residential rentals along Piers 2 through 6 at Honolulu Harbor. The estimatd $360 million project would also include parking for Aloha Tower Marketplace and a downtown streetcar. Click on the graphic for details.

Ken Hughes of UC Urban is asking the state Aloha Tower Development Corp. to help him acquire memorandum of understanding agreements for several initiatives, including demolishing Hawaiian Electric Co.'s downtown power plant to make way for a park.

Without the tentative support for key project concepts — which also include providing parking for Aloha Tower Marketplace at the Foreign Trade Zone and a downtown streetcar system that would need city and state support — Hughes is likely to drop the project, said agency acting executive director Dan Orodenker.

Last month Hughes presented his final master plan for Piers 2 to 6 after eliminating hotel and office high-rises and increasing the number of low-rise residential loft rentals from 250 to 550. The agency board had until today to decide if it wished to continue working with Hughes on the project, dubbed Pacific Quay.

Yesterday the board agreed to extend its predevelopment agreement with Hughes for three months to further refine project details and consider spending more money on feasibility study costs being shared with Hughes.

The state has spent $210,000 to date, a little less than half the project study costs so far. Hughes is asking the agency to contribute another $83,000.

The board, in extending the predevelopment agreement, signaled its optimism that the project is doable despite huge obstacles dominated by the power plant removal.

Hughes and the board have said that Hawaiian Electric Co. officials are willing to consider plant removal options.

Orodenker said that even if the ambitious project dies, the state's money will be well-spent because the power-plant relocation and marketplace parking shortage issues need to be resolved.

Agency board chairman David Louie agreed. "It is money well spent," the local attorney said. Fellow board member and Sun Industries President Sidney Quintal also agreed, and added: "If this thing works, you're going to get your money hand over fist."

If Hughes receives the support he seeks, he still would need to negotiate a development agreement with the state and secure financing.

Hughes last month said that if all goes well, construction could begin two years from now at the earliest and take two years to complete, though the park could take up to six years because of the need to remove the power plant.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.