Keawe Street midrise praised in its first public hearing

A plan to develop two residential midrise buildings on Keawe Street in Kakaako received mostly positive comments at a public hearing Wednesday after neighbors withdrew a petition contesting the project.

The roughly $60 million plan comprising a 95-unit condominium called 400 Keawe and an 88-unit rental complex called 440 Keawe was presented to the Hawaii Community Development Authority by Castle & Cooke Homes Hawai’i Inc. and Kamehameha Schools.

Castle &Cooke is developing the condo while Kamehameha Schools is developing the rentals on 2.8 acres of trust land bordered by One Waterfront Towers and Auahi, Pohukaina and Keawe streets.

The presentation represented the first public hearing on the project. The HCDAis expected to decide whether to approve a development permit after a public hearing on June 10.

A group of residents at One Waterfront intended to challenge the project with expert witnesses at Wednesday’s hearing, but notified other hearing participants Saturday that they would not do so.

Instead, objections from some One Waterfront residents were mainly expressed in written testimony. Eleven One Waterfront residents wrote the HCDA to oppose the project. There were 26 written expressions of support, largely from people affiliated with the construction industry.

At Wednesday’s hearing, seven people expressed support in person, compared with one in opposition.

Supporters largely praised the project for delivering affordable housing and furthering the mission of the HCDA to redevelop parts of Kakaako from old industrial uses to a mixed-use community filled with residents.

In the rental portion of the Keawe Street project, studio to three-bedroom units with estimated monthly rent from $1,100 to $1,700 would be reserved for middle-income residents earning roughly up to $52,000 for a single person and $84,000 for a family of four.

Condos with one to three bedrooms are expected to sell for prices in the $400,000s to $700,000s.

Damien Tua, an Army veteran, said he supports the project as a place for his family to live.

Paulette Pua’a Moore, a retired public school teacher, said the mission of Kamehameha Schools to generate income to educate Native Hawaiian children makes the project worth supporting.

Opponents mainly object to the proposed 65-foot height of the buildings. That is the current height limit for midrise buildings in the area, but is 20 feet more than what is allowed under old rules binding a Kamehameha Schools master plan covering nine blocks including the Keawe Street parcel.

Michael Goshi, a principal of Design Partners Inc. and lead architect for the Keawe Street project, said the added height is being sought to provide additional public space that includes a courtyard and pedestrian promenade that leads to a planned city rail station a block away through another Kamehameha Schools project, Keauhou Lane.

Goshi added that a tower was previously planned and could be built on the site.

Sharon Moriwaki, a One Waterfront resident, had planned to contest the project with some neighbors over issues including the height limit along with traffic, sewer capacity, views, property values, ground stability and sea level rise, as part of a contested-case petition.

Though the petition was withdrawn, Moriwaki submitted written testimony on behalf of 30 other One Waterfront residents saying that the top two floors of the Keawe Street project would have full views of One Waterfront’s recreation deck and block the deck’s makai view. Moriwaki also claimed that temperatures on the deck could rise to 135 degrees during the hottest months due to tradewinds being blocked by the project.

Bill Spencer, a local entrepreneur and One Waterfront resident, told HCDA Wednesday that the Keawe Street project would severely constrict enjoyment of the deck, on which residents just spent $2.3 million renovating.

"You won’t be able to see mauka to makai,"he said.

Goshi, in response to a question from HCDA Executive Director Anthony Ching, said he believes area property values would rise because of more pedestrian activity and retail created by the Keawe Street project.

Lee Cranmer, senior development manager for Kamehameha Schools, said the project envisions a 12,000-square-foot grocery store "something like Down to Earth" along with one or two restaurants, perhaps a gastropub, a cafe and other retail.