Kamehameha Schools shared more details this week about its plan to turn a block of old buildings in Kakaako into a hip retail complex, calling the project the cornerstone of its envisioned Our Kaka’ako neighborhood covering nine blocks.

The trust presented its plan, including before-and-after images, for the project dubbed SALT to the Hawaii Community Development Authority board on Wednesday after submitting a development permit application last month to the agency regulating development in Kakaako.

SALT is designed to provide space for 35 to 50 mostly retail and restaurant tenants, and add a 267-stall parking garage on the block bordered by Ala Moana Boulevard and Coral, Keawe and Auahi streets.

Tenants are expected to include some existing ones on the site, such as The Whole Ox Deli and Hank’s Haute Dogs, as well as artist studios and "micro tenants" who set up for a short period without big investments or leases.

Kamehameha Schools said it will renovate four existing buildings, which include Quonset warehouse structures that will have their curved roofs preserved.

The so-called adaptive reuse will cost more than replacing the old buildings with new construction, but will reflect the area’s industrial history, project officials said.

"We believe the new SALT at Our Kaka’ako will preserve both the local spirit and working-class grit of the area’s history," the trust said in a statement.

SALT, which is named in reference to salt ponds that once existed in the area, received unanimous support from 11 people who addressed the HCDA board, though one person raised a concern about traffic from the project and planned condominium towers throughout Kakaako, including seven envisioned for Kamehameha Schools land.

The SALT project requires significant parking, but Kamehameha Schools officials say they expect the complex will attract strong pedestrian traffic that supports its goal to create a walkable neighborhood.

The project’s proposed six-story parking garage would rise 65 feet, or 20 feet more than the area’s 45-foot base height limit that avoids triggering special provisions associated with high-rise projects up to 400 feet.

Kamehameha Schools is asking to exceed the base limit so it can create more interior open space, including a courtyard. A slimmer garage also would allow lining the structure with retail, cafe and restaurant space that makes the street frontage more inviting.

Existing buildings will be under the 45-foot limit.

Jason Selley, an architect who leases space on the existing block, endorsed SALT and said what Kamehameha Schools has already done with the site in terms of creating space for small entrepreneurs and exciting events is giving Kakaako new spirit.

Kimo Kockelman, a CrossFit Hawaii gym owner in Kakaako since 2001, also is a SALT supporter and said the changes in the area are exciting. "I am in support because I like what I see," he said.

SALT is the first piece in a Kamehameha Schools master plan for redeveloping 29 acres of contiguous land the trust owns, and aims to be the hangout spot for neighborhood residents.

The second piece of the master plan moving forward is a high-rise and low-rise condo complex called The Collection planned by local developer Alexander & Baldwin Inc. on a block immediately Ewa of SALT.

A&B is buying the Collection parcel that was once occupied by a CompUSA store, and expects to begin sales this summer followed by construction possibly next year.

Work to create SALT has already begun, and included converting an old office building into 54 affordable studio loft rental apartments last year. The trust also renovated an adjacent building in which it has opened an information center for the master plan.

Kamehameha Schools anticipates starting more renovation work at SALT this month. But a permit from HCDA is needed largely due to the parking structure design and a request to allow three small pieces of altered buildings to extend to the property line so they match existing structures on the block.

The HCDA board has scheduled a vote on the permit Aug. 7.