A conceptual plan by the owner of Ward Centers to turn 60 acres of private land in Kaka'ako into a high-rise village with as many as 20 residential towers drew a roughly even mix of support and opposition during a three-hour public hearing Wednesday night.

About 50 people spoke at the state hearing, which was the first opportunity for interested citizens to publicly express their views about the proposal unveiled in April by developer and mall owner General Growth Properties.

The hearing will help board members of the Hawai'i Community Development Authority later decide whether or not to approve the ambitious project that over 20 years would redraw much of the urban skyline near the waterfront.

Supporters included members of the construction trade and business or economic groups, though there also were some Honolulu residents who said they liked the idea of well-planned dense urban growth as an alternative to building single-family homes on vast expanses of agricultural land in Central and Leeward O'ahu.

Opponents of the plan said adding 4,000 more residences to the neighborhood would have too detrimental an impact on traffic and view planes, and questioned why an environmental impact statement that would assess and offer solutions to mitigate such impacts isn't being required.

Other issues raised included a demand to test for burials in the area, a request to preserve the IBM Building as a display of modernist architecture, and a fear that small businesses will be displaced.

A loosely organized group of about 40 project opponents, many of whom did not testify at the hearing, held a rally earlier in the day at Sheridan Community Park on Pi'ikoi Street with signs that included the messages "Leave Kaka'ako Alone" and "Keep Kaka'ako Low-Rise."

"We're here because we're concerned about the future of Kaka'ako," said Jim Frierson, who owns Kaka'ako-based Island Pool and Spa and is leading the formation of the so-called Kaka'ako Coalition. "Let's keep Kaka'ako Kaka'ako."

MASTER-PLAN APPROVAL

Chicago-based General Growth, which also owns Ala Moana Center, has been contemplating how to proceed with redevelopment of Ward Centers since it bought the collection of mostly retail complexes in 2002 from Honolulu-based Victoria Ward Ltd., which had its own plans for a lower-density version of a live-work-play urban village on the site.

The approval sought by General Growth would lock in present HCDA rules applying to the project for 15 years or more — defining density limits, building heights and requirements to provide public facilities and housing reserved for people with moderate incomes.

Jan Yokota, General Growth's local vice president of development, said the firm could build as many as 30 400-foot towers on its Ward property under HCDA density rules, and that approval of a master plan will allow greater investment in public facilities such as parks and pedestrian promenades, knowing that parameters for building commercial pieces of the project over two decades would remain vested.

4,300 RESIDENTIAL UNITS

The project dubbed "Ward Neighborhood" is envisioned to gradually replace all existing structures in the area roughly bounded by Ala Moana, Queen Street, a cluster of blocks just 'ewa of Ward Avenue, and the IBM Building. Everything in the area — including Ward Warehouse, Ward Centre and Ward Entertainment Center — would be redeveloped except for a Whole Foods Market under construction now.

Under the plan, there would be as many as 4,300 residential units spread among 20 buildings, with some as high as 400 feet. As laid out, five towers are positioned along Ala Moana opposite the Kewalo Basin commercial boat harbor.

Retail would continue to be a major presence on the Ward property, with space for about 400 retail tenants, up from about 300 today. Three landscaped pedestrian plazas covering about 5 acres, 9,600 parking spaces and a connection to a mass-transit station planned by the city in the vicinity are also part of the plan.

Kaka'ako resident Richard Quinn said General Growth's plan suits Honolulu's urban core. "I think it's a good plan," he said. "There is nowhere else in Honolulu that this plan makes sense."

Nalani Holliday, owner of a store at Ward Centre, said the project is an opportunity for her to be part of a new retail complex with a lot more residents living within walking distance. "I would love to have my store there," she said. "I consider it an upgrade."

'DOESN'T FIT IN KAKA'AKO'

Other testifiers said the conceptual plan doesn't fit on O'ahu. "By their vision, this will no longer look like Hawai'i," said Marilyn Michaels, who lives on the edge of Kaka'ako.

Sen. Sam Slom, R-8th (Kahala, Hawai'i Kai), a longtime critic of the HCDA as a former small-business owner displaced by redevelopment activity in what used to be largely an industrial neighborhood, also criticized General Growth's vision. "I think this plan has many good merits: It would fit in Beverly Hills or Utah," he said. "But it doesn't fit in Kaka'ako."

Slom also expressed concern about the project displacing small businesses.

General Growth, in response to previously submitted comments on its project, announced at the hearing that it has amended its plan to include 700,000 square feet of industrial space to provide relocation opportunities for many existing industrial tenants on its property.

Other concerns repeated by several people who testified were the project's impact on traffic and view planes.

Steve Scott of Kaka'ako-based slipper company Scott Hawaii, said at times traffic is so bad that he can't easily leave his office on Kona Street. "Traffic is horrendous," he said.

About a dozen people who testified suggested that an environmental impact statement should be required, which would require General Growth to conduct traffic studies and propose mitigation measures.

But local attorney Douglas Ing, representing General Growth, said approval of a master plan by HCDA is not an action under state law that triggers the need to prepare an environmental study.

Anthony Ching, HCDA executive director, agreed with Ing's view and said an environmental impact statement by the agency last updated in 1985 covers development in the area based on 47,000 people living in Kaka'ako.

HEIGHTS, VIEW PLANES

Today there are an estimated 6,200 people living in Kaka'ako, and the city projects the population will grow to 30,000 by 2030.

Still, several people who testified, including Sen. Carol Fukunaga, D-11th (Makiki, Punchbowl, Ala Moana, McCully), Slom, Donna Wong of Hawaii's Thousand Friends and Mary Steiner of The Outdoor Circle, said an environmental impact statement should be prepared by General Growth.

"This is really one very large project that will have cumulative impacts that need to be addressed," Steiner testified.

Building heights and their effect on view planes was another issue raised by several testifiers.

Michelle Matson, a local resident who's been involved in community planning efforts in Kaka'ako, said in written testimony any height over 90 feet along Ala Moana will significantly obstruct mauka-makai views.

"Open public view planes will be walled off from the shoreline and will cease to exist," she said in her statement asking HCDA to deny General Growth's plan. "This is Hawai'i — not Chicago or Dubai. ... These views are irretrievable public assets for present and future generations."

Carol Tsai, a resident in the 400-foot Ko'olani luxury tower completed two years ago, said buildings along Ala Moana should be low-rise. "Don't allow 400-foot-high buildings along Ala Moana boulevard," she said.

Another Ko'olani resident, Tim Ambrose, is concerned that his view will be eliminated by General Growth's plan, but he said he supports the project.

Former Hilton Hawaiian Village managing director Peter Schall also testified in support of the tower village concept, saying that a forest of high-rises can be aesthetically pleasing, like the Waikiki resort, if done right with lots of landscaping and open space that draws gazes to the ground level. "You don't even notice it," he said about the collection of tall buildings.

MODERATE-PRICE RULES

Some project critics have suggested that General Growth submitted its master plan application to HCDA earlier this year as a way to beat a potential rule amendment lowering the maximum building height along Ala Moana from 400 feet to 200 feet.

HCDA's Ching said the agency has an obligation to process a master plan application expeditiously under current rules. Any amended rules likely won't be adopted until sometime next year following public hearings.

Another rule General Growth would be bound to if its master plan is approved is providing 20 percent of residential units for sale or rent at moderate prices.

This rule is part of an incentive that allows developers to build higher than 45 feet in Kaka'ako, and requires that 20 percent of units be reserved for people earning no more than 140 percent of the median family income, or about $108,000.

Several testifiers at the hearing criticized HCDA for setting the median income limit relatively high, and said it doesn't produce affordable housing for average or low-income residents.

General Growth in response to similar concerns raised previously said at the hearing that it will produce 90 of the 860 moderate-income units for people earning no more than the median income, or $77,300.

DECISION IN DECEMBER

One potential major challenge to General Growth's plan could be the intent by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. to demand a quasi-judicial hearing before the HCDA to determine whether General Growth should conduct an extensive archaeological survey and plan for treating human remains that might be found.

Alan Murakami, an attorney with the nonprofit group, said 60 sets of iwi, or bones, have been disturbed at the site of the Ward Whole Foods project, which derailed a plan by General Growth for a high-rise rental tower. "I do not want to see the horror of (General Growth's Whole Foods project) repeated," he said.

In addition to the people who testified at the hearing, HCDA has received more than 250 comments submitted via mail, online and a phone hot line. The agency said it will consider all comments in producing a staff report that will make a recommendation to the board.

The board is slated to decide on the Ward Neighborhood master plan during a meeting in December.

General Growth said it anticipates starting an initial phase of development in 2011 with a central pedestrian plaza replacing old warehouses and Ward Farmers Market up to Auahi Street.