OHA’s best-laid plans for Kakaako might still go awry

Kakaako Makai has almost everything. It is gorgeous real estate edging in between Waikiki and soon-to-be-booming Kakaako Mauka and downtown Honolulu.

What the 30 acres of Office of Hawaiian Affairs property makai of Ala Moana Boulevard does not have is consensus.

No single plan offered up by OHA, community stakeholders or just general residents gets everyone marching together. In fact, any individual plan is likely to get everyone else marching against it.

For instance, last year OHA supporters marched to the state Capitol in a colorful demonstration to call attention to a bill that would allow OHA to develop high-rise housing on some of the nine parcels that the state gave OHA to pay off an old debt.

Former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who offered the deal, said the land was worth $200 million and OHA leaders agreed, even though they acknowledged that without changing a law forbidding high-rise residential development, the land was worth much less.

Today OHA is restudying the whole thing.

Peter Apo, OHA trustee who served in the state House for 12 years, says a $3 million, multi-year plan is supposed to give guidance.

"As you know, we had complained that we didn’t think the settlement was worth $200 million during the last (legislative) session. We didn’t think so and we still don’t think so," Apo said in an interview this week.

Adding that some state officials want to talk to OHA about swapping the land for other parcels that would be more developable, Apo said the OHA sentiment is to stay put.

"The caveat to all that is our emotional commitment to stay and stay the course so we can try to create a place that everyone can be proud of," Apo said.

"We really want the opportunity to demonstrate what good planning looks like."

That picture is being drawn by a team of architects, business consultants, researchers and community specialists.

The plan appears to not rely on running 40-story condos along the waterfront, but instead opening up some of the property to some retail and resort development.

"We would like to do business with local promoters and entrepreneurs. … If we can do this without a Cheesecake Factory or a Louis Vuitton, it would be our preference," Apo said.

One interesting proposal Apo said the board is tossing around would be to use some of the land for meeting and resort facilities for Pacific Island leaders. It could be something of a Pacific United Nations in Honolulu.

"It would not be your typical resort sort of place," Apo said.

The OHA properties border what could be a President Barack Obama museum or library or other facility, so another area fluffed up for international big shots would be a natural.

OHA, however, faces another hurdle in amending the state law controlling Kakaako Makai develop-ment because two of its big legislative supporters are out of office: former Sens. Clayton Hee and Malama Solomon.

Any change to the Kakaako land is controversial; Apo acknowledged that just getting something rammed through the Legislature will not work, so instead OHA has to develop some real consensus.

That will be a big hurdle — but without getting that community buy-in, no number of million-dollar studies or plans will be enough for OHA to see any money flow from the land.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.