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The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is forging ahead with its pledge to develop 30 acres of underutilized and largely waterfront land in Kakaako despite head winds in the community, the state Legislature and a law that prevents residential development.
The OHA Board of Trustees on Thursday approved a plan to hire a development consultant and community planner in an effort to further its goal of cashing in on its 10 parcels in Kakaako Makai.
The board, which in January formed a committee of trustees to examine the issues involved in developing the Kakaako Makai property, on Thursday formed another panel assigned to recommend a list of eligible development consultants, investigate land and commercial property policies and implement a request for proposal for a community planner.
Formally called Permitted Interaction Groups, these committees represent a subset of trustees allowed under the law to meet outside the open-meetings-law constraints of the full board.
On Thursday the trustees had little to say about the proposals they approved during an online meeting following a closed executive session with their attorney to discuss questions and issues about the same item.
With new board Chairwoman Carmen Hulu Lindsey leading the charge, trustees are pushing hard to develop the land that was given to OHA by the state in 2012 to compensate for money owed to the agency from revenue from lands in the Public Land Trust.
The Kakaako Makai properties were estimated to be worth about $200 million, and the new source of revenue was intended by OHA to help fund grants, services and other programs designed to improve the lot of Native Hawaiians.
The problem is the state Legislature outlawed residential development in Kakaako Makai in 2006 after Alexander & Baldwin Inc. proposed two condominium towers that generated plenty of opposition.
While a bill that would have lifted the residential prohibition on six of OHA’s lots and allowed for residential high-rises on two of the agency’s parcels on Ala Moana Boulevard was approved by the state Senate this year, the measure was blocked by the state House of Representatives.
Just as he did in 2014, House Speaker Scott Saiki, who represents Kakaako, announced to a cheering throng at a Save Our Kakaako Coalition rally that the bill would not be going any further.
Lindsey, the OHA trustee who represents Maui, has said the agency envisions a mixed-use project that creates a Hawaiian sense of place, incorporates culture and commerce, and draws the community to a revitalized urban core.
According to the agency’s planning and financial analysis, OHA will be unable to generate enough revenue from the Kakaako Makai parcels to meet the rate of return expected of a $200 mil- lion investment without the ability to build residential towers.
“Regardless of whether the Legislature grants Native Hawaiians the same ability to build residential housing on our lands as our neighbors across Ala Moana Blvd. enjoy, OHA is moving forward with developing these prime lands,” OHA’s website says. “Our intention is to submit a master plan to the Hawai‘i Community Development Authority reflecting the best case scenario approved by our board of trustees.”
Meanwhile, the state House approved a measure, HCR 129, to convene a working group to discuss the development plans in Kakaako Makai.
But it’s unclear whether it will get anywhere in the Senate because it has not been scheduled for a hearing yet, and OHA has strongly opposed the measure, saying it would force the agency, “against its will,” to renegotiate the settlement with the state that gave the land to OHA. The agency was asking its beneficiaries to contact senators and urge them to not schedule a hearing.
In a report accepted by the OHA board Thursday, the Permitted Interaction Group recommended adopting a yet-to-be-determined “guiding goal and vision” for Kakaako Makai, including a set of policies and strategies to be used in the development of the properties.
It also recommended continuing the panel’s work with the formation of a “new” group. So as she did for the the first group, Lindsey will chair the second panel with the same membership: Leina‘ala Ahu Isa, John Waihee IV and Kalei Akaka. OHA CEO Sylvia Hussey has been serving as project manager.
Lindsey said the same members were named to the committee to maintain continuity.
A second mission of the panel is to look at how OHA can get the best and highest use out of the property where the agency maintains its headquarters, the shopping center on Nimitz Highway known as Na Lama Kukui.
The Iwilei center was acquired by OHA in 2012 as an investment aimed at generating income to support its programs.
Correction: An earlier version of this story that a bill that would have lifted the residential prohibition on six of OHA’s lots and allowed for residential high-rises on two of the agency’s parcels on Ala Moana Boulevard was approved by the state House of Representatives but blocked by the Senate. It was actually approved by the Senate and blocked by the House.
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