How much — or little — commercial development is appropriate around Hawaii’s only commercial small-boat harbor is being assessed by a state board after two developers presented revised proposals Thursday to develop underutilized state land bordering Kewalo Basin in Kakaako.

The competing developers submitted their amended plans as best-and-final offers to the Hawaii Community Development Authority after the agency’s board informed the developers during a closed-door portion of an August public meeting that the commercial use in their plans should be less intensive.

HCDA’s board didn’t make a decision Thursday, though feedback from some directors and public testimony appeared to favor a $6 million plan over a $50 million plan.

“Minimizing the impact is very important,” said John Kobelansky Jr., a Kakaako resident who teaches swimming at Ala Moana Beach Park.

The HCDA, the state agency that regulates development in Kakaako and owns Kewalo Basin, issued a request in March for proposals to develop “waterfront commercial space” that creates more of a gathering place around the harbor, with a “priority placed on open space and harbor/shoreline activities.”

Two developers responded — a firm led by three Japanese companies assisted by a team of local consultants going by the name Kewalo Waterfront Partners, and the Texas-based firm Howard Hughes Corp., which is developing Ward Village with up to 22 residential towers mixed with retail just mauka of the harbor.

Neither developer has publicly shared its plans in full detail, though the initial plans were focused on commercial use including retail, restaurants and a wedding venue.

Hughes Corp. envisioned developing a collection of one- to three-story buildings with an urban fishing village theme and retail and restaurant uses along with expanded park space.

Kewalo Waterfront envisioned a big three-story complex with retail, restaurants, a live music venue, a wedding chapel and a 250-stall parking garage.

The developers separately presented details of their plans, including fees for leasing state land, to the HCDA’s board privately on Aug. 5.

John Whalen, HCDA board chairman, said Thursday that the board asked the developers to reduce the intensity of commercial use in their initial plans.

“Kewalo Basin is, first and foremost, a boat harbor and a public park,” he said.

The three sites sought for development are:

» A vacant 3,000-square-foot building fronting Ala Moana Boulevard.

» A 2.1-acre parcel on the Diamond Head side of the harbor that was once home to McWayne Marine Supply but now contains a parking lot with 94 stalls, grassy areas and a bathroom.

» A 1.3-acre lot next to Kewalo Waterfront Park partly occupied by a mostly vacant warehouse that houses the harbor master’s office and was previously used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

All three sites are zoned by the HCDA for waterfront commercial use, which is the same zoning found on nearly the whole Ewa side of the harbor including the former Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant property and the existing restaurant and wedding operation 53 by the Sea.

Whalen noted the commercial zoning but said he would like to see uses that support but don’t compete with the park and harbor.

Only some details of the revised plans were shared publicly at Thursday’s meeting, and both developers made arguments that their plans were better.

The Hughes Corp. plan turned the 3,000-square-foot building into a convenience store with outdoor seating, adding some picnic tables and barbecue grills to the 2.1-acre site and turning the warehouse into an event space with surfboard lockers and space for lifeguard operations and the harbor master.

The development cost for this plan is about $6 million, according to the company.

Hughes Corp. said it is better suited to develop the property because it already leases the harbor from the HCDA and is proceeding with upgrading boat slips and other facilities for harbor tenants that mainly operate charter vessels catering to tourists.

“We obviously think we are the best partner for this task,” said Race Randle, the company’s senior director of development in Hawaii.

Kewalo Waterfront retained more or less all the elements of its original plan but broke up the design of its building into five buildings. The plan also provides a pedestrian promenade along the Diamond Head side of the harbor.

Project representatives emphasized that this plan, which occupies only the 2.1-acre parcel, will pay far higher lease rent to the HCDA, have a bigger economic benefit and is more responsive to what the agency asked for in its request for proposals.

“This project is truly a gathering place for the local community,” said Shane Peters, a project consultant with Peters Communications.

Shaun Mukai, a local attorney representing Kewalo Waterfront, said the partnership’s plan will cost $50 million and create 800 jobs. He estimated that five to 10 weddings a day would be held in a multipurpose facility that would also be open for baby luau, graduation ceremonies and other public uses.

Peters added that the HCDA would receive $2 million a year in land lease rent that would increase over time to top $100 million in 30 years.

“The economic opportunities really can’t be underestimated here,” Peters said.

HCDA board member Steve Scott, a Kakaako small-business owner, expressed concern that a wedding operation isn’t appropriate for a park.

Mukai responded that the 2.1-acre parcel is not zoned for park use.

Scott pushed back, “Tell that to all the people who go to Kewalos. It is a park.”

George Atta, director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, who sits on HCDA’s board as a nonvoting member, said the agency has two dramatically different proposals: the plan by Hughes Corp. that includes what could be considered an expansion of Ala Moana Beach Park, and the Kewalo Waterfront plan that takes the harbor back to a previous time when there was more commercial use.

“The two visions seem quite different in their directions,” he said.