Expanded details emerge for Kakaako condo project

The latest piece of a master-planned community of residential towers by Kamehameha Schools in Kakaako has been fleshed out with details that include a putting green, guest suites and unit prices projected to start at $900,000.

Detailed plans for the condominium tower named Vida were shared with the Ala Moana/Kakaako Neighborhood Board Tuesday night after an initial rough outline presented to the board last month.

The 38-story tower with about 265 two-and three-bedroom units is proposed by local development firms Kobayashi Group and The MacNaughton Group on 3.4 acres owned by Kamehameha Schools and occupied by a family of Cutter automobile dealerships bordered by Ala Moana Boulevard, Koula Street and a closed-off portion of Auahi Street.

Vida unit prices are preliminary, but the developers project a range roughly from $900,000 to $4.7 million for units with about 1,500 square feet to 1,890 square feet of living space.

Duncan MacNaughton, chairman of the MacNaughton Group, said in a statement that Vida will be an "understated, yet superb" residential tower.

Planned tower amenities include guest suites, movie rooms, dining areas with a professional kitchen, children play areas, game rooms, a putting green and storage for bikes and surfboards. Shops and restaurants also are planned for commercial spaces fronting the street.

Two architecture firms, Los Angeles-based Arquitectonica and Honolulu-based Benjamin Woo Architects, produced the tower design.

"We’ve built a reputation on our uncompromising standards of quality, and Vida at 888 Ala Moana will set another benchmark of excellence for future residential communities in Hawaii," MacNaughton said.

MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group previously partnered to develop three Honolulu condo towers — Hokua in Kakaako, Capitol Place downtown and ONE Ala Moana at Ala Moana Center. The first two were completed in 2006 and 2008, respectively, and ONE Ala Moana is sold out and under construction.

Sales for Vida units are anticipated to begin later this year through Heyer & Associates LLC.

The neighborhood board voted unanimously to support the project. The developers will need to obtain a permit from the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which regulates building in Kakaako, but will not seek to deviate from any HCDA rules, according to project representatives.

Two public hearings will be part of the HCDA permit process. The hearings are expected to be held later this year but have yet to be scheduled.

Vida is part of a Kamehameha Schools master plan called Our Kaka‘ako, which generally allows up to seven towers with 2,750 units within nine contiguous blocks.

Previously approved pieces of the master plan include midrise rental apartments called Six Eighty Ala Moana, a retail complex dubbed SALT, a condo tower and midrise complex called The Collection, another tower and midrise complex called Keauhou Lane and a midrise condo and apartment complex dubbed 400 and 440 Keawe.

Six Eighty was converted from an old office building and completed in 2012. SALT is under construction. The Collection is close to two-thirds sold out and projected to start construction by the end of the year. The Keauhou and Keawe projects were approved respectively in May and earlier this month.