Ward developer opts for 1 larger tower over previous 2-condo plan

A plan for two luxury condominium towers has become a plan for one at Ward Village in Kakaako.

The developer of the master-planned community has converted its plan for two approved high-rises dubbed Gateway Towers fronting Ala Moana Boulevard and overlooking Kewalo Harbor into a plan for one tower called Victoria Place.

An application for the new tower was accepted Tuesday by the state agency that regulates development in Kakaako, the Hawaii Community Development Authority.

Howard Hughes Corp. said its newly proposed 350-unit tower rising 400 feet will allow a partially developed 3-acre central public park called Victoria Ward Park to become bigger by about 10,000 square feet.

“Being able to expand the park space is a huge benefit to the community,” said Todd Apo, senior vice president of community development in Hawaii for Texas-based Hughes Corp.

Previously, Hughes Corp. had planned two shorter towers on much of the same site that was formerly home to the retail complex Ward Warehouse.

These two planned towers with 236 units combined were dubbed Gateway Towers, and the first was the 125-unit Gateway Cylinder where Hughes Corp. began selling condos priced from $1.5 million to $23 million in mid-2015. Construction was projected to start in 2017. But after spending $29 million on work for the two towers and contracting to sell 28 units in the first tower, Hughes Corp. last year canceled the Gateway plan and sales.

Apo said Victoria Place will feature smaller units than planned in Gateway or the first completed tower at Ward Village, Waiea, where prices for 174 units averaged $3.6 million. But he also said the Victoria Place units are slated to have appointments on par with those of Waiea units.

The new tower will produce a requirement for 70 moderate-priced homes for residents with moderate incomes under HCDA rules. Hughes Corp. said in its application that it intends to include 108 such homes on a separate site to fulfill this requirement together with an obligation tied to its Koulu tower, which recently began construction.

Hughes Corp. has a master plan to build 15 towers with about 4,500 homes plus 1 million square feet of retail on 60 acres that used to be a mix of mainly retail and industrial buildings known as Ward Centers.

Victoria Ward was a kamaaina landowner whose grand estate once covered the area, and her property was redeveloped into Ward Centers largely by one company, Victoria Ward Ltd., led by her heirs. That company sold the property in 2002 to mall owner and developer General Growth Properties Inc., which created an initial master plan but transferred the property as part of a bankruptcy to Hughes Corp. in 2010.

To date, Hughes Corp. has built four towers and two more are under construction.

HCDA has scheduled public hearings for a Victoria Place Permit at 1 p.m. on Sept. 4 and Oct. 2 in its meeting room 547 Queen St.

If the permit is approved, Hughes Corp. aims to start sales early next year and start construction in the third quarter of 2020 if sales are strong enough.