A lively plan for Kakaako living

A business area of Kakaako along Ala Moana Boulevard is planned to undergo a $30 million renovation by landowner Kamehameha Schools along the mauka side of the boulevard. The changes are wholly consistent with an overhaul of guidelines approved last month by the Hawaii Community Development Authority and, though relatively modest on its face, have the potential to inspire an attitude of needed reinvention to an underutilized urban area.

The project is part of Kamehameha Schools’ vision for the 29 acres it owns in Kakaako, the master plan of which includes 2,750 housing units on nine blocks and up to seven high-rise buildings between Restaurant Row and Ward Center.

Near-term plans for the block between Coral and Keawe streets, between Auahi Street and Ala Moana, start the conversion, with offices and retail shops in a four-story building turning into 54 apartment units. Kamehameha Schools figures the change would be "planting the seeds of a new community" of young professionals. The two-floor building next door would remain commercial.

An aspect of the revamped block would consist of building onto an existing structure and turning it into a 60,000-square-foot specialty retail center, including 20 to 30 shops, restaurants and pubs. That would overlook a 10,000 square foot open courtyard and a beer garden — a now-humble outdoor area transformed into a people-gathering magnet.

It’s "really built around the pedestrian spaces and courtyard and will have outdoor seating and live music to really take advantage of the atmosphere of the place," said Erin Kinney, a Kamehameha Schools spokeswoman.

The plan to include 54 rental loft apartments as workforce housing is a small but significant step to bring more dwellings into already-zoned urban settings; any opportunity where that can happen should be encouraged. And instead of today’s building that houses 18 tenants, the renovation aims to attract creative businesses such as graphic designers, architects and technology innovators.

The destiny has yet to be revealed for the current AutoMart USA, a dealership owned by Acura of Honolulu owner Dan Keppel. Formerly the site of a CompUSA outlet, the abbreviated block leased by Keppel between Keawe Street and Restaurant Row at South Street is owned by Kamehameha Schools, which said last year that the lease would remain for what now is about 18 months.

Kamehameha Schools’ plans are modest when put beside the grand vision by the Development Authority nearly 30 years ago to turn Kakaako from a run-down industrial area into superblocks sporting towers with rooftop parks and linked by elevated pedestrian passageways. That initial policy was aimed at allowing "people to move throughout the mauka area without going to the street level with its accompanying automobiles."

HCDA’s present version of the future Kakaako envisions right-sized "urban villages" where people can congregate at the street level among low-rise buildings, created at less expense. This Kamehameha Schools project reflects a policy that wisely envisions realistic development in the urban core, pushing for modern growth while spurring lively, people-oriented interaction.