Y’s request for zone change hits wall

Development of a condominium tower near the edge of Waikiki would help the YMCA of Honolulu replace aging facilities and remain in the area, but concerns about traffic led the Ala Moana/Kakaako Neighborhood Board to oppose the plan for a tower with higher density than zoning rules permit.

The board voted 7-0 Tuesday night against a zoning change request by the Y solely on grounds that higher density allowed by such zoning would generate more traffic in an already congested area on Atkinson Drive across from Ala Moana Center.

“I’m not against the project, but I don’t think the area can stand the increase in density,” said board Chairman Larry Hurst.

Opposition from a neighborhood board cannot stop a project, but the City Council considers boards’ opinions when deciding on zoning changes. The Council will also hold public hearings before making a decision. No date has been set for the hearings.

Board member Nathan Minn said he couldn’t conceive how more traffic created by the tower proposed with 156 units and 282 parking spaces can be mitigated in an area that serves as
a corridor to the state’s largest shopping center, Ala Moana Beach Park and Waikiki. “That area is already a hotbed of heavy traffic,” he said.

John Whalen, a representative of the developer with planning firm PlanPacific Inc., told the board that the density of the tower described in the application represents a maximum under the requested zoning, and that a much lower number of condo units are being considered.

The developer said in a statement Wednesday the building is likely to have closer to 128 units and 256 parking spaces for residents. The developer said existing zoning would allow 120 units and 240 parking spaces.

Whalen also said the developer intends to give the board a presentation on the project, but at this point the redevelopment effort is too conceptual.

The board went ahead with its vote in part to ensure that its position on the zoning change was made known to the city before a decision is made.

“I think there are valid concerns,” said board member Tony Kato.

The Y seeks to rezone its 1.8-acre property from A-2, the medium-density apartment district, to AMX-3, the high-density apartment mixed-use district. The change would allow a 350-foot tower, or 200 feet higher than the 150-foot limit permitted.

PlanPacific, which authored the zoning application sent to the city last month, said in the application that the additional height would result in a narrower building that reduces obstruction of views.

PlanPacific also stated in the application that building a new Y facility on the site can’t be done without additional density provided by the requested zoning change.

The nonprofit Y, which serves more than 100,000 people annually on Oahu with a variety of programs at eight branches plus Camp H.R. Erdman on the North Shore, sought a partner to help it rebuild its 62-year-old Central Y facility that has become too much of a financial burden to maintain

Last year, the Y announced a deal with developer MB Property Acquisitions LLC in which the San Francisco-based development firm led by Michael J. Blumenthal would buy 1.5 acres of the Y site to build a condo. Proceeds from the land sale would allow the Y to build new facilities on its remaining piece of land.

MB Property, which has since joined with Tokyo-based housing developer Tama Home Co. Ltd. on the project, was the only interested party to offer keeping the Central Y where it has been since 1951.

Under the arrangement, the developer would pay about $6 million for the land. The cost of a new three-story Y is estimated at $8 million to $9 million. The facility would be family-oriented and feature a swimming pool and a youth center offering afterschool and summer child care, teen programs and services. About 115 rooms at the Y used for short- and long-term residences would not be replaced.

The Y would continue to lease 115 parking spaces in the neighboring Yacht Harbor Towers condo.

PlanPacific, in the zoning application, suggests that AMX-3 zoning is consistent with policies and guidelines of the latest version of the city’s Primary Urban Center Development Plan adopted in 2004.

The firm also said the city development plan permits high-density housing around transit stations, and that a transit station is planned within a half-mile at Ala Moana Center.

The A-2 zoning on the Y property was set in 1982, and reduced previous density and height limits in the area where some older buildings built around 1970 were allowed to rise up to nearly 400 feet.

For instance, the Ala Moana Hotel, built in 1970 across Atkinson, is 396 feet and contains 1,169 units.

Sunset Tower on the mauka side of the Y was built in 1969 and is 180 feet with 81 units. And Yacht Harbor Towers makai of the Y was built in 1973 with two towers rising 351 feet and containing 459 units.

If a zoning change is granted, the developer projects demolishing the Y in April 2014, which would allow construction to start a few months later. Completion of the project is estimated for early 2016.

The developer said more than 300 jobs would be generated by the project, including 250 to 350 for construction, more than 35 to operate the Y and possibly 20 to operate the condo.