Conditions imposed by the city Tuesday on a planned 37-story condominium-hotel known as 2121 Kuhio in Waikiki won’t affect the development timetable for the estimated $180 million project, the tower’s developer said Wednesday.
Jason Grosfeld, principal of PACREP LLC, said the conditions attached to approval of a special district permit by the Department of Planning and Permitting are standard for modern Waikiki high-rises and have mostly been addressed by the evolving design of the 2121 Kuhio project, also known as The Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikiki Beach.
“We’ve already done most of them,” Grosfeld said. “They’re minor.”
The biggest contention over the tower was raised largely by immediate neighbors whose views would be blocked, and had to do with the long side of the tower being parallel to the mountains and the shoreline.
Project opponents contended that Waikiki Special District Design guidelines call for a building’s long axis to run perpendicular to the mountains and shoreline to preserve views and natural ventilation.
The developer said the orientation, which provides all 361 units with expansive ocean views, was the result of extensive study of the site that produced a design that maximizes public views and provides the most attractive addition to Waikiki’s skyline.
The Department of Planning and Permitting said the special district guidelines are not mandates, and that the agency did not agree with project critics who asked that the orientation of the building be changed.
However, the department said PACREP can’t apply for building permits until it submits revised plans that, among other things, “consider graduated, stepped forms, and/or other appropriate architecture features and design elements to soften the appearance of the tower and reduce its apparent mass, particularly as viewed from Kalakaua and Kuhio Avenues.”
Graduated, stepped forms are preferred under Waikiki’s special district design guidelines.
Other conditions in the order included increasing commercial uses on the ground floor, and having the building evoke a “Hawaiian sense of place” through facades, articulation and exterior architectural elements.
Grosfeld said such conditions are standard, and were similar for Trump International Hotel Waikiki Beach Walk and Watermark Waikiki high-rises.
“The conditions really pertain to things that are more cosmetic and relatively easy to obtain,” he said.
Grosfeld expressed sympathy for neighbors, mainly residents of the Four Paddle condominium mauka of the 2121 Kuhio site who challenged the orientation before a hearing in February. But he said that private views aren’t protected by government design and development rules, and added that the majority of the feedback he’s received has been positive.
“It’s just a few people trying to protect a view that they (don’t own),” he said. “This (project) is an enormous benefit to the city.”
Louis Erteschik, president of the Waikiki Residents Association and vice chairman of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, said he still considers the project flawed because of its orientation. But he also said he is reasonably pleased with some of the other conditions.
“I’m glad they didn’t rubber-stamp this thing as it is,” he said.
Mark Harpenau, a Four Paddle resident who started the website 2121kuhiotower.com to rally opposition to the so-called “wall,” applauded the Department of Planning and Permitting’s decision as “enormously encouraging for the community,” for addressing issues including building mass, open space and Hawaiian sense of place.
“This is a good day for Waikiki and Honolulu,” he said in a post on the site.
Waikiki resident Walt Powers also supports the decision and called it a bold step.
“The 37-story building with no windows or openings mauka of Kuhio was recognized as untenable for the thousands of Hawaii citizens who (would have) had to view it for many years in the future,” he said in an email. “We were pleased with the DPP characterization of the walled facade as a ‘monolith’ which many citizen described as a wall or tombstone.”
But Larry Tadlock, a Four Paddle unit owner, said it was unconscionable for the department to let the project proceed despite concerns regarding the special district guidelines
“They’re guidelines to improve public life instead of maximizing the land for profit,” he said. “They should stick to them. It’s pretty obvious that something underhanded is going on here.”
Los Angeles-based PACREP anticipates starting construction in June and taking two years to complete the project.
Purchase reservations are expected to be accepted soon for hotel units that are anticipated to be sold to investors at prices averaging more than $654,000.
