Height of tower’s base troubles board

Questions about the latest proposed condominium tower at Ward Village in Kakaako were raised during an initial public hearing Wednesday on the project called ‘A‘ali‘i.

Hawaii Community Development Authority board members expressed several concerns over the plan, including the height of the tower’s broad base and traffic impacts if the project planned by developer Howard Hughes Corp. with 751 residential units and 826 parking stalls is approved.

Project consultants and Hughes Corp. officials said ‘A‘ali‘i was designed sensitively to improve the community and deliver needed housing on a site constrained by the city’s rail guideway, Native Hawaiian burials and new roads.

If approved, ‘A‘ali‘i would be more populous than six other towers already permitted at Ward Village, including four under construction. By comparison, the next most dense tower is Ke Kilohana, with 425 units, which broke ground recently.

The HCDA, an agency regulating development in Kakaako, approved a master plan in 2009 for Ward Village with up to 4,300 homes and 22 towers. However, each tower needs a development permit from the agency, subject to board approval.

One issue raised by the board during a nearly five-hour hearing Wednesday was the height of the tower’s base, filled primarily with parking concealed by ground-level retail and more than 100 condo units.

Hughes Corp. wants this podium to rise 75 feet instead of 45 feet allowed under rules applying to its master plan. The developer previously obtained the same allowance for three of its other towers — Anaha, Ae‘o and Ke Kilohana — and a 65-foot base height for its Waiea tower and a pair of high-rises called Gateway Towers.

HCDA board member Steve Scott said it seemed that Hughes Corp. wants the additional height so it can sell more condos.

David Akinaka, a project consultant with architectural firm Ferraro Choi, headquartered at Ward Village, said the higher podium allows the parking structure to be concealed by retail and residences so that the street becomes more lively and interesting.

“It’s a lot more of an enjoyable and engaging neighborhood experience to be able to walk into shops and restaurants than pass by a parking garage,” he said. “The sidewalk area becomes a place rather than just a space.”

Race Randle, vice president of development in Hawaii for Texas-based Hughes Corp., added that building more homes helps satisfy a demand that isn’t keeping pace with supply, especially for high moderate-priced homes.

At Ke Kilohana, Hughes Corp. received interest from 3,700 prospective buyers and 956 applications for 375 units priced from $323,475 for one-bedroom units to $560,774 for three-bedroom units.

Though no prices have been projected for ‘A‘ali‘i, at least 100 units would be in the neighborhood of Ke Kilohana and satisfy an HCDA affordable-housing requirement. Overall, ‘A‘ali‘i units will be smaller than Ke Kilohana, and average about 550 square feet, Randle said.

“We have such a big need for homes,” he said. “I wish we could do more.”

John Whalen, HCDA board chairman, suggested that Hughes Corp. could build a shorter podium by including less parking, given that a rail station is planned on the block.

Randle said ‘A‘ali‘i has the lowest ratio of parking-to-condo units at Ward Village to date, but that homebuyers aren’t going to forgo cars years before rail is running through Kakaako.

“We really focused on trying to be as efficient with our parking and provide as few as we can,” he said. “There is no train now. People need to make their buying decisions knowing that they’re still going to need their vehicles to get from point A to point B.”

Scott, a principal with slipper maker Scott Hawaii on Queen Street, took issue with the project’s traffic assessment that said improvement work including dedicated turning lanes on Queen at Ward Avenue would ease traffic impact.

“There’s going to be an impact to the area,” he said. “I go down Queen Street almost daily. There’s a problem.”

Scott asked Hughes Corp. traffic consultant Cathy Leong of engineering firm Wilson Okamoto Corp. whether the developer was going to improve a nearby section of Queen where ownership is claimed by Kakaako Land Co., a firm that has been restricting parking and criticized for not maintaining several streets in the area.

“I can’t speak to that,” Leong responded.

Another issue discussed at the meeting was the distance between the broad side of ‘A‘ali‘i being closer to the broad side of an adjacent tower than the HCDA desires. Agency rules applying to Ward Village specify a minimum 300-foot spacing between the broad sides of towers “to the extent practicable.” ‘A‘ali‘i would be 206 feet away.

Tom Witten, chairman of planning firm PBR Hawaii, said the discovery of Hawaiian burial remains on part of the ‘A‘ali‘i site was a factor in the closer spacing, along with the city running the rail guideway over part of the tower site. He also said that Hughes Corp. could adhere to spacing rules by turning the broad side of the tower parallel with the mountain and ocean but that the company wants to preserve mauka-makai view planes.

Witten added that the master plan, which now calls for 16 towers, does a good job spreading out towers and maintaining view planes. “It’s quite a porous plan,” he said.

More discussion on the podium height, which is considered an HCDA rule deviation, is scheduled today. A decision on the project is slated to be made Dec. 7.