Go carefully on Blaisdell redo

The conceptual plan for redeveloping the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, just unveiled by the Hawaii Community Development Authority, is like many of the Kakaako blueprints the state agency oversees. It’s filled with both the promise of added value to a key urban property and the peril of a poor outcome, one that could be with Honolulu for a long time.

But this particular complex should be especially important to Honolulu residents because it houses two gathering places for countless concerts, sports events and other spectacles. They are landmarks for many kamaaina. In particular, the domed arena has a retro, 1960s-era charm — it’s where Elvis Presley gave his historic satellite-broadcast concert, after all. And while it needs significant improvement, officials ought to think twice, and twice again, before letting it go.

This is why the opportunities for public opinion on Kakaako’s overall redevelopment should not be passed up (see box). And when hearings focusing on the Blaisdell complex appear on the calendar, residents need to speak up there, as well.

The authority has proposed that city officials consider a public-private partnership that could work very well for Honolulu. In exchange for overhauling the entertainment complex, a developer could use part of the site to build a condominium tower.

The extra-large carrot being dangled here is the chance to erect one of three "iconic" 700-foot highrises the authority envisions for its umbrella Kakaako plan. Theoretically, it would join one proposed by HCDA dubbed the 690 Pohu- kaina project; a third would be in HCDA’s Auahi neighborhood that includes some 60 acres under redevelopment as Ward Village by the Howard Hughes Corp.

This could be a professional challenge for a smart developer and architectural firm, as well as a financial boon, if things play out well. The hope is that one with good ideas about design responds to the lure when the proposal reaches that point.

But for the resident, the seemingly endless drumbeat about highrise developments within Oahu’s imagined "third city" is disconcerting. Piecing together all the disparate plans, the image that comes into focus is that of a forest of towers. And where current building limits are 400 feet, three towers are proposed for up to 700 feet.

Increasing density in the urban core makes a lot of sense. In a place like this, where land comes at a premium, the demand for housing is so great and with the rail project alignment running right through it, a proliferation of high-rises may be all but inevitable.

However, the reason HCDA was created was to provide some needed planning controls and oversight, with the intent of producing a more livable community on several scores. It should be walkable and accessible, officials frequently say — a place where people interact readily rather than an urban jungle navigated mainly by cars.

That’s why development rules were set in place to guide the orientation of buildings, avoiding the appearance of a concrete canyon.

Not surprisingly, developers have shown an early interest in gaining variances from some of the guidelines, and although rules shouldn’t be rigid, they should be observed more often than not.

Holding the HCDA and its private partners to high standards is an imperative throughout Kakaako’s redevelopment. On the Blaisdell project in particular, that also will be the responsibility of the city administration and the City Council.

It’s the duty of the public to weigh in, as well, if the future of Honolulu’s civic entertainment center means as much as it should.