State board considers 2 more towers at Ward Village

A state board Wednesday began its review of two very different condominium towers planned for Ward Village, and the distribution of moderate-priced homes was a major point of discussion.

Ward Village developer Howard Hughes Corp. proposes to develop one less- expensive tower and one luxury tower that would represent the company’s eighth and ninth high-rises in the growing community within Kakaako.

Hughes Corp. aims to satisfy its entire remaining requirement to produce moderate-priced housing in its master-planned community, which is slated for 16 towers and 4,500 homes, with one tower dubbed Ulana Ward Village featuring 697 units.

The second tower, dubbed The Park Ward Village, would feature 546 luxury condos.

Some members of the Hawaii Community Development Authority board regu­lating development in Ka­ka­ako questioned the appropriateness of concentrating so many moderate- priced homes in one tower as opposed to integrating them throughout more of the community in different buildings, in line with one of HCDA’s goals.

Hughes Corp. said its plan for Ulana provides a bigger public benefit by delivering all of its remaining required moderate-price housing sooner to meet a critical housing need instead of delivering such homes in smaller increments over many years.

“It’s a big opportunity, and we take a lot of pride in having this opportunity to provide over six times as many homes today as is required, and really to front load those at a time when there’s such a critical need for housing, and to do it in the urban core and extremely livable environment for those residents,” Race Randle, senior vice president of planning and development in Hawaii for Texas-based Hughes Corp., told the board.

Representatives of Hughes Corp. also noted that there can be problems with moderate-income households being equitably represented on condo boards in towers with predominantly wealthy homeowners who might want to spend more to maintain or improve amenities.

Additionally, it can be problematic to make units in a luxury tower affordable for moderate-income households given amenities needed to appeal to luxury-home buyers, such as multiple pools, a spa, cabanas, a lounge, tennis court, pickle ball court and fitness center planned at The Park tower.

“All these are wonderful, but they lead to so much bigger (maintenance fee) charges per square foot,” Ann Mikiko Bouslog, a Hughes Corp. consultant with planning firm PBR Hawaii, told the board.

Bouslog said socioeconomic blending is better supported within the same neighborhoods, which is something city planners have said previously.

Reina Miyamoto, executive director of the nonprofit Hawaii HomeOwnership Center, which helps first-time homebuyers, expressed support for Ulana during a public testimony portion of HCDA’s hearing.

“There’s a shortage for housing,” she said. “We want folks to get into homeownership successfully as well as be able to sustain homeownership for the long term.”

Under HCDA rules, 20% of all new homes at Ward Village must be available at prices that meet federal affordability standards for moderate-income households in Honolulu.

Hughes Corp. delivered its first condo tower in 2016. This tower, Waiea, had an average unit cost of $3.6 million and two grand penthouses priced at $35 million and $36 million.

Average condo prices at Ward Village’s next two towers were $1.2 million at Anaha and $1 million at Ae‘o.

Hughes Corp. delivered its first increment of moderate- price housing under HCDA rules with its fourth tower, Ke Kilohana, which opened in 2019 with 375 units reserved for moderate-income households and 48 market-price units. Most unit prices in this tower ranged from roughly $300,000 to $600,000.

For the fifth Ward Village tower, ‘A‘ali‘i, HCDA required Hughes Corp. to include 150 moderate-priced units in the mix of 752 units at the tower described as a luxury project with smaller unit sizes.

‘A‘ali‘i is slated to open later this year and includes studios with as little as 277 square feet of living space and prices starting in the $500,000s. Bigger ‘A‘ali‘i units top $1 million. Estimated initial monthly maintenance fees range from $279 to $835.

A sixth tower, Ko‘ula, is under construction with average unit prices around $1 million, and a seventh tower, Victoria Place, is slated to start construction later this month with average prices over $1 million.

Ulana is positioned to rise along the community’s Ewa edge and makai of Ke Kilohana, which Hughes Corp. nestled up to an existing low-income rental tower on state land.

Part of the Ulana site bordered by Auahi, Kamani and Pohukaina streets a block Ewa of Ward Avenue would feature a 30,000-square-foot public park. A 40,000-square-foot park for Ulana residents also is part of the project, along with retail and an industrial building.

Hughes Corp. estimates it would cost $409 million to build Ulana.

The Park tower, which would include ground-floor retail space, is planned for much of an area fronting Ward Avenue that previously was largely occupied by a Sports Authority store. Part of this site would be used to enlarge an existing public park that would be enhanced and grow by about 37,000 square feet to about 90,000 square feet. The developer estimates this tower’s cost at $620 million.

HCDA expects to make a decision at a May 5 hearing set to begin at 11 a.m. following a March 10 hearing to discuss requests to build tower bases or parking garages clad with retail space higher than HCDA’s height limit but in line with what the agency has allowed for other towers. Hughes Corp. is also asking that The Park tower be allowed to occupy some space in a view corridor along Ward Avenue.