The amount of Oahu properties that could be seized through eminent domain has exploded in recent weeks as rail work intensifies in town and officials say they might need the maneuver to keep construction on pace.
In the past month the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has approved resolutions to start condemnation proceedings for 24 properties, including a controversial effort to take part of the Blood Bank of Hawaii’s Kalihi primary donor center. That brings the total properties currently facing condemnation for the transit project to 32.
HART’s executive director, Dan Grabauskas, said Thursday that there likely will be more such resolutions adding more properties to the list in the coming weeks.
The move doesn’t mean those properties necessarily will be seized, but it keeps the option open should negotiations fail.
On Thursday the board overseeing rail passed resolutions to start condemnation procedures for the four latest properties added to the list, each being a partial take. They include the Blood Bank’s contested facility on Dillingham Boulevard, where blood officials have maintained the rail work will require them to relocate. The blood bank did not respond to requests for comment late Thursday. The latest ones also include two Hawaiian Electric Co. sites.
Even as the number of potential eminent domain properties suddenly snowballs, HART officials said Thursday that they haven’t yet had to resort to the action. The case that came the closest was settled on the courthouse steps, Grabauskas said, and officials hope to eventually come to terms to avoid condemnation of many of the properties on the list.
Several properties included in the list have also recently accepted purchase offers, including Halawa View Housing, Waiwai Loop Rental and Ahuloa Aina, they said.
Most of the properties facing condemnation are found along Waiwai Loop near Keehi Lagoon, along Dillingham Boulevard in Kalihi and Iwilei, and in Kakaako approaching the rail line’s end at Ala Moana Center. Most of them would be partial takes — not the full property. However, several owners have contested HART’s offers, saying the partial take would make their properties unusable and that it would make it difficult for the existing businesses to continue operating there.
The four new sites added Thursday are:
» Some 4,451 square feet of property at Blood Bank of Hawaii on Dillingham Boulevard, for which HART has offered nearly $422,000. The blood bank, supported by members of the Honolulu City Council Budget Committee, has said previously that it should be paid $3 million to relocate.
» A 9,779-square-foot downtown property that’s part of the decommissioned power plant owned by HECO, at 170 Aloha Tower Drive, near Nimitz Highway. HART has offered $3.2 million for the take, which it says it needs for its downtown station. HECO rejected the offer, according to HART, but it says that they’re still negotiating.
» A separate 16,953-square-foot HECO property between Dillingham Boulevard and Kuwili Street, for which HART has offered $1.56 million and says it needs for its Iwilei station. HECO hasn’t officially responded, according to HART, but the rail agency says they continue to negotiate.
» A 182-square-foot property owned by SCI Corp. at 2644 Waiwai Loop, for which HART has offered $7,100. HART says it expects a counteroffer soon from SCI.
Also on Thursday the HART board voted unanimously to accept $6.8 million in credits from train builder Ansaldo Honolulu for what’s billed as the savings that come from switching from 40 two-car trains to 20 four-car trains.
The board deferred a vote on whether to accept an $8.7 million delay claim for the company, however, when board member and city Department of Transportation Services Director Mike Formby raised concerns that rail staff hadn’t presented them with sufficient information to decide whether it was a good deal.
“There’s not enough material here for me to even ask informed questions,” Formby said. “I know we’ve asked in the past for more specificity (on change orders), but I just don’t see it.” The board opted to vote at a later date.
