Posted on: Friday, March 11, 2005
UH to pick developers for three major projects
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
The University of Hawai'i is within weeks of selecting developers and proceeding on three major projects: building a new Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i in Kaka'ako; launching Phase I of a new West O'ahu campus in Kapolei; and redeveloping three of the oldest dorms on the Manoa campus.
Final proposals for the Cancer Center are due March 18, after which an evaluation committee will choose one to recommend to the Board of Regents. The board is expected to call a special meeting around the end of March to make a decision.
"We expect to select a developer by the end of the month," said Jan Yokota, director of capital improvements for the university. "We are being required by HCDA (Hawai'i Community Development Authority) to select a developer by the end of March to retain exclusive rights for that 5.5 acres."
Two developers have withdrawn, leaving three in the running: Alexandria Real Estate Equities of Pasadena, Townsend Capital of Towson, Md., and Healthsettings Network of Rochester, N.Y.
In the two other projects — West O'ahu and the dorms — decisions are to be made at the regular board meeting April 21.
A similar process is moving forward, with April 6 the deadline for proposals for the dorms and April 7 the deadline for proposals for West O'ahu.
Similar evaluations committees will make recommendations to the board at the April meeting.
In all three cases, UH will partner with private developers to tackle major projects beyond the university's resources. The developers will shoulder the costs of construction on the state and UH land, earning profits on rentals, and on a variety of fees built into the projects.
Additional profits for the developer of Phase 1 of West O'ahu could come in the form of the rights to develop about 170 adjacent acres for residential and commercial use. The total parcel devoted to use for the campus and a college "village" is 500 acres.
Phase I of the new campus will include four multi-use buildings on the first 30 acres, with the cost for on- and off-site infrastructure pegged at around $39.5 million. The buildings will cost around $49.3 million.
If regents choose developers for each project along this timeline, and plans move forward, expected completion dates are: student dorms, summer 2007; West O'ahu, Phase 1, summer 2008, and Cancer Center by the end of 2008.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
