State and city eye 19 empty Waikiki lots

State Rep. Adrian Tam is leading a drive to get the city to purchase long-vacant plots of Waikiki land owned by Okada Trucking Co. and earmark it for higher use.

The land in the heart of a portion of Waikiki called “the jungle” sometimes looks the part. Grass and weeds are overgrown at times, and smells from illegal dumping waft into the air. There’s also an aging foundation complete with protruding rebar that was poured decades ago for a building that was never built.

Tam (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana- Kakaako) said nearby residents want a park, a dog park or a parking lot with charging stations for electric cars. They say almost anything would be an improvement.

“Waikiki is growing more crowded and does not have adequate infrastructure, including affordable housing, parking and outdoor space, to support all of the people who live and work there,” he said. “I’m looking to make a market-priced offer in good faith. A condemnation, an eminent domain process, is very lengthy — that’s not what we want to start with.”

Tam has introduced House Concurrent Resolution No. 93 urging the city to buy 19 properties owned by Okada Trucking —which are on Liliuokalani Avenue, Mountain View Drive and Tusi­tala, Cleghorn and Kapili streets — at fair-market value. The measure, supported by the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, was referred to the House Committee on Water and Land earlier this month.

Okada Trucking, which purchased the Waikiki lots for $5 million in 1995, declined the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s request for an interview. The company does not have the properties listed for sale and declined to discuss past or future plans for them.

According to city tax records, the Okada Trucking lots total about 75,621 square feet. The current tax-assessed value for the lots, which are zoned residential, is $12.6 million. The company’s 2021 tax bill for the vacant lots was more than $44,000.

Tam said he is asking the city to buy the Okada Trucking properties, rather than the state, because he thinks “the city has more leeway over parks and parking, and even affordable housing.”

Honolulu City Council Chair Tommy Waters said he has talked to Tam and is generally supportive of the resolution, provided the city has enough funds in the budget. Waters said the city does have $170 million earmarked for affordable housing.

“Rep. Tam is correct. These numerous (properties) could probably be better used for parking, affordable housing or a park,” Waters said.

Longtime Waikiki resident John Bickel said he asked Tam to pursue the purchase in order to end illegal dumping and people congregating at the Okada Trucking lots, and to increase parking in the neighborhood, which has become strained since the city removed about a dozen parking spots.

“It’s a quality-of-life issue. I have friends in my building that have one condo with one parking stall, and they spend hours every day looking for parking,” Bickel said.

He added that the neighborhood’s parking situation is likely to get worse once Lilia Waikiki opens on nearby Kuhio Street. The 28-story residential tower will have more than 400 rental units and more than 40,000 square feet of retail.

Bob Finley, chair of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, said he supports turning the property into coveted parking or green space for Waikiki, as well as designating it for other community benefits such as affordable housing.

“This property has a long history of problems,” Finley said. “Okada Trucking was using it to park trucks and all kinds of things until the city cracked down on them — that’s when they poured some concrete as part of their building plan.”

Waikiki Neighborhood Board member Jeff Merz, an urban planner, said the company’s decision to abandon construction and leave a foundation on the site probably isn’t breaking any existing rules. However, he worries that vacant lots, such as those owned by Okada Trucking, attract nuisances.

“These lots have been undeveloped since abandonment of construction plans decades ago,” Merz said. “It’s ugly.”

Merz said the Waikiki board has been plagued with complaints about the properties, and acknowledged that Okada has responded to some of the board’s requests to clean up the lot.

At one point, Merz said, Okada was using the site for parking and staging, which has ceased. Still, he feels keeping the lot vacant is a waste of prime Waikiki real estate.

“Developing it would put eyes on the street, and it would generate revenue; right now it’s not,” he said.

Merz said vacant properties in urban Waikiki should be developed to provide greater community benefits and more tax income for the city. He suggested city officials consider changing the tax code to incentivize building and discourage vacant lots.

He said Seattle’s decision to triple the tax rate for undeveloped properties led to the development of Belltown, a thriving area in North Seattle.

Waters said he’s willing to consider legislation that would spur redevelopment of vacant or underutilized Waikiki assets. He is already working with the Waikiki Improvement Association on modifying Waikiki Special District building guidelines to encourage landowners to redevelop their properties.

“I think it’s time to look over these old laws to see if we can allow for more density and more height,” he said. “In some instances it truly doesn’t make sense for them to invest any more into these properties, because they can’t build anything.”

Waters said he’s concerned about vacant properties in Waikiki.

“I represent the district, and I’ve heard from the community that they want a nice neighborhood like every other portion of the island,” he said.

Vacant properties have long been a challenge for the iconic district. Historically, budget restrictions have challenged city code enforcement. The city Department of Planning and Permitting primarily relies on complaints; however, inspectors will investigate possible violations when visible during routine inspections.

The department uses its civil fines program, which places financial pressure on owners through penalties, property liens and, ultimately, foreclosure to encourage correction. Owners of dilapidated buildings can be fined $50 to $1,000 a day.

The city did not immediately respond to the Star-­Advertiser’s request for an update on property citations for Okada Trucking’s Waikiki properties. However, the city has previously cited the property owner for litter. The owner also was cited for having an abandoned construction site and sidewalk overgrowth.

The Honolulu Police Department also has answered multiple calls to the property, but enforcement is challenging because complaints of trespassing, graffiti and property damage require a legal representative of the owner to initiate the complaint.

Mertz cited Centennial Park, 2251 Aloha Drive and 1615 Ala Wai Blvd. as precedents for the city to pursue the purchase of Waikiki land for community benefits.

The city and the Rotary Club of Honolulu transformed a long-vacant lot at the Aloha Drive address into Centennial Park, a gated public park complete with trees, benches, an open area, lighted walkways and an irrigation system. The community push to build a park went all the way back to 1998, when the late Bill Sweatt first championed turning the derelict lot behind his condominium into a place where his grandchildren could play.

In 2003 the city nixed a high-rise planned for the site and condemned the land for “an open-space park.” The city paid $2.57 million for the 35,480-square-foot property, which is situated one block mauka of Kuhio Avenue and bordered by Aloha Drive, Manukai Street and Seaside and Royal Hawaiian avenues.

Park plans stalled but were revived after Sweatt’s death in 2011, when community residents mounted another effort to spur the city to follow through on its promise. Centennial Park finally opened in late 2020 more than 20 years after Waikiki residents first eyed the land for a park.

“After looking at what the Rotary Club did to the Centennial Park, it’s super encouraging that we would be able to do the same thing” with the Okada Trucking properties, Waters said.

Waters said the city prefers to reach agreement with property owners to sell at fair-market value. However, he has recently supported condemnation of 1615 Ala Wai Blvd., an abandoned walk-up.

The building, sandwiched between the Watermark, one of Oahu’s toniest condominiums, and freshly renovated walk-ups, has been vacant some 20 years, and its condition has resulted in complaints to the city Department of Planning and Permitting and to police.

The 1615 Ala Wai Blvd. property has a tax-assessed building value of about $211,300 and sits on land worth more than $2.9 million.

“The city has been trying to acquire that piece of property for years, and every time we would get close, the owner would jack up the price and it wasn’t worth what he was asking,” Waters said. “So with the support from the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, I decided to explore condemnation. I didn’t want to do it, but we tried and tried and tried to work with the owner, including getting him to clean it up, and … nothing happened.”

Waters said the city is surveying the property so that it can make an offer to the landowner before filing the lawsuit.

Bickel said if Okada Trucking won’t sell to the city, it should pursue condemnation of its properties, too.

“Five years is long, 10 years is crazy, 20 years is ridiculous,” he said.