Editorial: Building homes, slowly on Oahu

Potential is such a double-edged sword: It has the power to uplift with promises, but also brings bitter disappointment when those promises are dashed.

Two big-dream development projects, reported by the Star-Advertiser’s Andrew Gomes this week, raise such expectations:

>> A state-sponsored project envisioned for 168 acres in East Kapolei that would include some 1,000 affordable and moderately-priced rental housing, a 180-room hotel, plus commercial and industrial spaces. It’s a prime site, next to the University of Hawaii-West Oahu, the growing Ho‘opili community and the rail’s west-side terminus.

>> Realization of the long-stalled Royal Kunia second phase that includes 1,850 homes, as proposed by developer Haseko for 211 acres in Central Oahu. Haseko, developer of Ocean Pointe and Hoakalei in Ewa Beach, recently bought the property left undeveloped for decades due to an earlier landowner’s plans.

The state’s East Kapolei project certainly would realize plans decades in the making, an ambitious piece of the long-envisioned “Second City” puzzle. The $1.8 billion proposal, phased over the next few decades, would create welcome affordable housing, jobs and taxes, plus needed revenue for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).

“The site has tremendous potential,” said Rodney Funakoshi, planning program administrator for the state Office of Planning, in an Oct. 23 meeting of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, which unanimously approved the draft plan produced by local consultant and engineering firm R.M. Towill Corp.

Interestingly, R.M. Towill Corp. also had ties to Royal Kunia’s second-phase plan: Three years ago, a company linked to Towill bought the project’s undeveloped 161 acres for $10.2 million, years after the acreage was foreclosed in 2009 after previous developer Herbert Horita ran into financial problems. Haseko came on the scene this August, buying the site for $20 million plus another adjacent 50 acres for $18 million.

Both the DLNR’s East Kapolei and Haseko’s Kunia sites are already land-classified for development, and the prospect of nearly 3,000 new affordable and moderate-priced homes is certainly positive. But many more land-use hurdles await. For the East Kapolei project, picking developers and installing infrastructure will be major; for Haseko, challenges include questions of stormwater drainage and Kunia Road widening.

Count on at least several years before construction can even begin on either. So much potential will also require much patience.