Ward Village full of promise

Individual residential tower projects have drawn attention to the booming transformation of Kakaako, but plans by the urban neighborhood’s biggest landowner deserve special attention. Its first phase consists of three 400-foot condo towers while plans are being developed by the same company for 19 other towers on its 60 total acres. The undertaking is both daunting and impressive — and if done right, should result in a spectacular crossroad between downtown and Ala Moana.

The huge, long-term Ward Village master plan, forecast to cost $7.5 billion, is that of Howard Hughes Corp., the Dallas-based company that bought the Ward Centers property from General Growth Properties three years ago. Gov. Neil Abercrombie praises the plans to turn a district of industrial shops and warehouses into Oahu’s "third city" through "master planning the way it’s supposed to be," a fair assessment.

Hughes’ $1.25 billion first phase consists of the three towers: a moderately-priced 415-unit one on Ward Avenue between Halekauwila and Ilaniwai streets, a market-priced 200-unit tower at what is now a parking lot makai of the Ward theaters complex and a market-priced 300-unit tower on the present site of Pier 1 Imports, a store that will be relocated.

The latter two projects, which should attract top prices overlooking Ala Moana Beach Park and Kewalo Basin, are among some seven towers that Hughes eventually envisions fronting Ala Moana Boulevard. Plans are to set them back up to 70 feet from the street instead of 15 feet, which had been considered. That’s a welcome decision, to keep the row of towers along the boulevard from becoming an obtrusive wall.

Kakaako observers have noted that Hughes’ other changes to the 2008 General Growth plan are an improvement. Those include planning a total of 22 skinnier towers positioned to preserve more public views of the mountains and ocean. It remains to be seen how this will be achieved.

Existing Hughes properties not included in this re-imagining of Ward Village are the Ward movie theaters, a recently completed TJ Maxx building and the iconic IBM building, which will be renovated as part of the first phase.

Hughes must produce a regional traffic impact study, which is crucial. Its plans call eventually for more than 4,000 residential units and more than a million square feet of retail and commercial space. Kamehameha Schools, which intends to add housing units on its 29 acres in Kakaako, plans a 60,000-square-foot retail center, including 20 to 30 shops, restaurants and pubs.

That is a lot of projected additional traffic for the area, so Hughes’ current contention that roads here won’t need to be widened sounds dubious.

Two rail stations are being planned to run through the area but parking still could be a huge problem, as many residents outside the neighborhood can be expected to visit stores and restaurants. The Aloha Tower Marketplace opened in 1994 without sufficient parking and was followed by futile attempts to fix the shortage.

Hughes’ phase one is expected to be done by 2016, assuming that the Hawaii Community Development Authority grants approvals. Two HCDA hearings, the first on June 19, will be for the moderately priced tower on Ward Avenue, with hearings on the other two proposed towers to be scheduled later. The public must speak up on this project.

Completion of the first phase should provide a good look at what can be expected going forward with Hughes’ other towers in Kakaako. Its master plan inherited from General Growth is valid until 2024, and it will be incumbent upon the HCDA to impose robust questioning and conditions to ensure that this developer, and others in Kakaako, are building in the best interests of the community and state.