Editorial: Redevelopment in Halawa

So much land, so little certainty of public benefits.

At this juncture, it’s difficult to see through the thick haze surrounding the two-pronged redevelopment of valuable, state-owned property at and around Aloha Stadium. That’s why healthy skepticism must accompany each milestone announcement concerning the 98-acre Halawa property, now split by the state into two development projects: the new-stadium build on about 25 acres; and for the remaining 73 acres, a lucrative mixed-use real estate project.

It’s that latter project that’s moving ahead first — even though, ironically, it was the more-urgent stadium rebuild that had launched all this redevelopment talk in the first place.

But so it was that this week, two finalist consortia were named as competitors to deliver a master-planned community of commercial and retail businesses and — let us not forget — a bevy of homes. The two entities deemed complete and compliant to move forward by the state Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) are:

>> Aloha Halawa District Partners, led by New York-based Development Ventures Group Inc. and Honolulu-based Stanford Carr Development LLC, and including Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., WATG, SB Architects, Rebound Associates, Colliers, Wilson Okamoto Corp., NBBJ LP, DTL and Bennet Group.

>> Waiola Mixed-Use Partners, led by Honolulu-based Kobayashi Group and BlackSand Capital affiliate BSC Acquisitions II LLC, and including Machete Group Inc., Design Partners Inc., Manica Architecture, Stantec, Nan Inc., A.C. Kobayashi, JMA Ventures LLC, BAMP Project, Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, SSFM International, Wilson Okamoto Corp., Nainoa Thompson and S.H.A.D.E.

Quite a who’s who of Hawaii’s development industry, signaling the rich potential of this project.

DAGS anticipates that one of the two groups will be selected by summer after submitting construction and technical details for an initial piece of the 73 acres, along with an overall concept for the property that could take at least two decades to complete.

There’s a lot of upside here for visionary, rail-adjacent master-planning — including a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make headway on Hawaii’s pressing need for housing, and specifically, affordable housing.

Some public vetting of the two detailed proposals, before the winner is announced by DAGS, will be necessary. It is such transparency going forward that will ensure that the public, and not just developers, stand to benefit well from the use of these precious state lands.