Governor greenlights public-private partnership for stadium

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green is restarting a public-private partnership pathway to develop the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District in Halawa, and he wants to shorten the project’s timeline by up to a year.

During his recent gubernatorial campaign, Green indicated his support for the NASED plan, which details construction of a new multiuse stadium at the center of a mixed-use real estate development on 98 acres of land where the existing Aloha Stadium sits.

The so-called P3 plan — for public-private partnership — had been in the works for two years when former Gov. David Ige changed course in September, opting instead to use the $350 million set aside by the state Legislature to build a stand-alone stadium via a more traditional design-­build contract.

Green, who was sworn in to office Monday, wants the stadium ready to use sooner than the estimated 2027 completion date set by the Stadium Authority, which is attached to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

“If everything fell perfectly (into place), we could shave off six months to a year of the whole process,” Green told The Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Saturday. “Hawaii is a prominent state in America with a prominent sports tradition. As much as I love the kitschiness of the stadium at the University (of Hawaii), people in Hawaii deserve a modern facility.”

About 70 acres of the property would be used for development of housing options, hotels, office, retail, commercial and entertainment uses while the new stadium would occupy the remaining land, according to the Stadium Authority.

Ige had put a stop to the P3 request for proposal process in which the state was soliciting private funding from developers for the stadium and the mixed-use district. He said the state Legislature had provided enough funding to build a stadium and that focusing on that project alone would expedite construction.

But Green said he wants to streamline the process and build the stadium and adjacent projects “with a focus on affordable housing.”

Chris Kinimaka, public works administrator for the state Department of Accounting and General Services, said Saturday that because the RFP process was just paused by the former administration in September, progress made before that point wasn’t lost.

DAGS along with the Stadium Authority are in charge of overseeing development of the NASED, and Kinimaka said they should be able to issue a call for proposals in January to the shortlist of bidders. She said developers will be given seven months, instead of up to 10 months, to submit their plans.

She’s hoping that contracts for the stadium and real estate projects can be signed before January 2024, and that efficient design and construction practices will help expedite completion.

“To the extent that we can expedite that we will, but we don’t want to damage the process by being unrealistic,” Kinimaka said. “Sometimes if you move too fast, you damage the process or make it more difficult.”

Other state leaders don’t appear to be fully on board with resuming the P3 process for the stadium district. House Speaker Scott Saiki (D, Downtown- Kakaako-McCully) told the Star-Advertiser on Saturday that his understanding is that taxpayers could be on the hook for decades for projects with an undefined ceiling for construction, maintenance and other costs.

Saiki said he doesn’t believe the NASED plan is even a true private-public partnership, which he said usually involves a private developer footing the bill for construction and recouping costs from revenue generated by the completed project. He said P3 agreements aren’t common in Hawaii because it’s questionable whether major projects like the new stadium can generate adequate revenue.

“It’s basically a taxpayer project. It includes the $350 million appropriation from the Legislature as well as guaranteed payments from the state over the next 30 or 40 years,” Saiki said. “In the last version of the RFP, there was no requirement for the private parties to assume the financial cost of this project.”

Saiki supports the construction of a new stadium, but said maintenance and construction costs are still unclear. He’s hoping Green and his administration will be forthcoming about details regarding the financial responsibilities of all parties involved once they’re known.

Most of all, Saiki said, he doesn’t want taxpayers to get “bamboozled” as he claims they have been with the increasing costs and delays of the Honolulu rail system over the past decade.

“I do not want the stadium to turn into another rail project, where costs fly out of control and taxpayers are forced to pay the bill,” Saiki said.

Green said he wants to expedite construction, also to the benefit of the public. The NASED plan will result in more affordable housing, jobs and places of commerce, he said, adding that it’s often indecision that leads to problems such as those seen with the rail system.

“We need some direct, straight-talking leadership,” Green said. “It won’t be perfect, we won’t get every decision right, but we’ll make them in a way that moves us forward without waste.”

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Star-Advertiser sportswriter Dave Reardon contributed to this article.