Plans for Waikiki’s first constructed all-rental tower in about 40 years won approval from the City Council’s Zoning and Housing Committee on Thursday.
Developer OliverMcMillan plans to create a
402-unit tower called Lilia Waikiki between Walina and Kanekapolei streets on Kuhio Avenue, currently the site of low-rise commercial buildings and associated parking. The site includes the Food Pantry, the only supermarket in Waikiki.
The developer also wants to renovate four
existing low-rise apartment complexes across from Lilia Waikiki. The four buildings would add 53 additional rentals. A 25,000-square-foot supermarket on the second floor of the tower would replace the 20,000-
square-foot Food Pantry, and other commercial space will be offered on
the ground floor.
Kris Hui, OliverMcMillan’s Hawaii director of development, said 20 percent of the units are being dedicated for those making no more than 80 percent of
Honolulu’s median income for 30 years.
OliverMcMillan also built the Pacifica and Symphony high-rise for-sale condominium buildings in
Kakaako. The land for the proposed Lilia Waikiki is owned by the Queen Emma Land Co., a nonprofit
established to support
The Queen’s Medical
Center and its affiliate
operations.
OliverMcMillan wants Council approval to exceed the 260-foot height limit for the site by 25 feet to make the tower 37 percent denser. The tower also would encroach slightly on transitional setbacks that dictate how far from a property line upper portions of the tower should be.
The developer is agreeing to offer up 20 percent
of the project’s 455 units,
or 91 apartments, for residents earning no more than 80 percent of area medium income and to maintain those affordable rents for 30 years.
The tower will have a mix of one-, two- and three-
bedroom units as well as studios, Hui said. “Our goal is to really be a traditional, rental housing product that offers all unit types in varying unit sizes,” he said.
Kathy Sokugawa, the city’s acting planning director, testified in support of the project, as did Waikiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Robert Finley, Waikiki Improvement Association President Rick Egged and two officials of the Hawaii Regional Council of
Carpenters.
Finley said the neighborhood board voted in January to support the project largely because rentals are badly needed in the community. Too many condominiums and condominium rooms are being converted to bed-and-breakfast establishments, he said. The community is also hopeful the project will rid the neighborhood of the nighttime noise and crime concerns associated with the parking lot now behind the Food Pantry, he said.
Winston Welch of the Outdoor Circle said he
worries the project will
result in a huge loss of
trees and other green space.
Resolution 18-236 now goes to the full Council for final approval. If approvals are granted as scheduled, construction could begin next year, and the first units would be available in summer 2021.
