Big decisions that will change the character of a community can’t be done without community
input. Especially so, if it involves an iconic hub, such as the venerable Ala Moana Center.
That’s why the City Council was right to pull the alarm on proposed major changes to the 2016 “draft final” plan of city transit-oriented development (TOD) rules. Among the proposals: at Ala Moana Center, to allow housing and hotel towers of up to 400 feet and greater floor area ratios, or density; and allowing building heights along Ala Moana Boulevard and King Street to rise above the current 150 feet height limit, to 350 feet.
One of the special aspects of living in Honolulu is the proximity to parks and shoreline, giving welcome respite even in an urban setting. From Ala Moana Regional Park, aptly named “the People’s Park,” there are still good viewplanes, looking makai to mauka, thanks to zoning rules that restrict building heights directly across Ala Moana Boulevard, now capped at 100 feet at the 50-acre shopping center.
The interim TOD plan for the Ala Moana district was forged in 2016 after community meetings in 2012-2016. Significant occurrences since then spur the need for renewed public engagement over today’s proposed amendments:
>> Since 2018, developer Brookfield Property Partners has been the owner of Ala Moana Center — and it has a strong vision for the area. In addition to its longer-term desire for 400-foot towers at the mall, in the near term, it is now advancing plans for a 595-unit rental-housing tower at Ala Moana Plaza, the Piikoi-Kona strip mall occupied by tenants such as Eggs ‘N’ Things and Nijiya Market.
>> The city wants to preserve a rail corridor from the planned Ala Moana terminus, for a future spur to the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Two earlier options are now closed due to new buildings, so Brookfield’s proposal for a rail route through its property can be seen as a community benefit partly in exchange for greater heights and densities, said Harrison Rue, the city’s TOD administrator.
>> Recent community activism, such as those that scuttled a proposed disabled-inclusive playground at Ala Moana park, as well as a sports complex at Waimanalo’s Sherwood Forest.
And then there’s the long-held, yet unfulfilled, promises of affordable housing as a crucial component of TOD along the rail route. There is little hope such housing will materialize if city officials dispense developer giveaways that enable luxury towers and hotels, but not units for the local workforce. There needs to be more delving into the value of community benefits.
One proposed change to the Ala Moana TOD plan would allow full-service hotels makai of the Hawai‘i Convention Center, including on Atkinson Boulevard at the former YMCA site and at Ala Moana Center’s Diamond Head side.
Rue opined that a few more towers closer to Ala Moana Boulevard wouldn’t change views significantly.
“We don’t think if the towers move slightly closer to Ala Moana that it’s going to be that big a difference,” he said. “It’s not a huge change in the plan.” That’s the kind of perspective that invites creep and encroachment.
In crafting the 2016 TOD plan, solid community sentiment emerged for building heights to step down from 400 feet along Kapiolani Boulevard, with a scaled transition toward Ala Moana Beach Park. The city Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) does address this, advising that in general, the tallest buildings would be nearest to the rail station at Kona and Kona Iki streets, and the Convention Center.
Rightly noting that “some of these proposed amendments are significant,” DPP offered to deliver presentations for Council committee meetings or any other meetings, virtual or in-person, to get community input.
Good. This all deserves robust discussion, and public interest surely will extend beyond this district. Brookfield, for one, should expect hard questions about its vision for 400-foot towers across from Ala Moana park.
