The Plaza Assisted Living, a senior housing community, is planning on expanding into Waikiki with the company’s fourth Oahu location.
The Honolulu Planning Commission recommended in June the approval of a zoning change for developer MW Group to construct a midrise tower at 1812 Kalakaua Ave. across from the Hawai‘i Convention Center. The commission recommended that a portion of the parcel be rezoned from B-2 Community Business District with a 60-foot height limit to BMX-3 Community Business Mixed-Use District with a 150-foot height limit. The site, which since 2003 has been owned by the Hawaii Public Television Foundation, is bounded by the Ala Wai Promenade and Ala Wai Canal to the south, Kalakaua Avenue and the Hawai‘i Convention Center to the west, a restaurant to the north and the Maikiki Stream drainage canal and apartment buildings to the east.
The Honolulu City Council deferred action Oct. 9 on the planning commission’s recommendation to Nov. 6, when the Council is scheduled to take a final vote on the zoning change.
The Plaza, which opened its first property in Punchbowl in 2004, is known for providing Oahu seniors with rentals that offer comprehensive care services. The company also operates locations in Mililani and Moanalua. MW Group told the city that its plans for Waikiki would include a 110,000-square-foot single structure, which would rise about 100 feet or about eight stories. The Plaza at Waikiki, which is slated for a possible 2015 opening, would provide up to 140 studio and two-bedroom units with communal facilities and required off-street parking.
The project generally has received positive feedback from the Waikiki neighborhood since it would replace what in recent years has become a hangout for the homeless and drug users. The existing community recycling collection and redemption operation, which has drawn many homeless people to the site, would vacate the property.
"We gave the project a big thumbs-up," said Waikiki Neighborhood Board member Jeff Merz. "We want to get a positive business in that location. That intersection has been awful for years. We think that this development will clean up the site and really the whole surrounding area."
Merz, who is an urban planner, said more housing is needed in Waikiki, especially for the growing population of seniors.
"Additional housing is very important for our community," Merz said. "We like the idea that this infill development would be very walkable for the people who live there."
The measure was also supported by the seniors who live at other Plaza locations, their families and by members of the medical community, according to public records. There was not any major opposition presented.
"I strongly urge the council to support and approve Bill 46 for the Plaza at Waikiki," Douglas Johnson, who practices medicine on Lusitana Street, wrote in September. "The Plaza Assisted Living projects offer a great solution to the major shortage of elderly housing in Honolulu. The project will make great use of the site and provide Waikiki with another outstanding building at the gateway to Waikiki."
Additionally, MW Group told the city that the proposed development would provide about 450 to 500 construction jobs while it was being built. The developer also said that after its opening, the facility would create about 100 health care-related jobs and would increase tax revenues to the city and state.
