A conceptual plan for a proposed 400-foot luxury hotel tower, a 200-foot residential tower and 69 affordable rental units at Ala Moana Center is up for possible Honolulu City Council adoption today.
The Council, under a committee draft of Resolution 171, is set to review the development by Honolulu-based BSC Acquisitions II LLC, affiliated with Kobayashi Group and BlackSand Capital, for a project planned at 1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
The panel will consider approval of an Interim Planned Development-Transit, or IPD-T, project, subject to numerous conditions.
As drafted, the resolution would adopt a plan for a 187,174-square-foot portion of the about 2.7 million-square-foot Ala Moana Center property.
The proposed development calls for demolition of an existing Ala Moana Center parking structure and construction of a 38-story, 400-foot hotel tower with 294 hotel units; a 17-story, 200-foot residential tower with 136 market-rate for-sale units; and a five-story “podium” containing 69 affordable rental units, commercial uses, hotel and residential lobbies, a covered driveway and parking.
The project would include 1,229 parking spaces: 439 for residential uses, 192 for the hotel and 598 for Ala Moana Center.
Approval of Resolution 171 would allow the hotel tower to reach 400 feet, and the residential tower to reach 200 feet. It also would allow the hotel tower to encroach up to 33 feet into the Atkinson Drive height setback.
But a union representing Hawaii’s hospitality, health care and food service workers say they plan to show up at today’s Council meeting to urge 1588 Ala Moana’s developer to build more below-market rate units.
UNITE HERE Local 5 members argue the number of affordable units is insufficient, and unit prices are not affordable for working people.
“Too many local families are struggling to make ends meet or having to move away, it’s time for real solutions to the housing crisis here in Hawaii,” Local 5 member Marieta Salmasan, a 14-year housekeeper, said in a news release Tuesday .
Previously, BSC Acquisitions said its development is expected to support 6,072 jobs over an approximately five-year construction period and about 800 jobs annually once fully operational.
And following its Sept. 24 meeting, the Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee recommended full Council adoption of Resolution 171.
If approved, the measure would require the developer to submit detailed plans to the city Department of Planning and Permitting for a Major Special District Permit after Council approval.
In exchange, the developer would provide a series of community benefits.
Those include $5 million for Complete Streets improvements within the Ala Moana Neighborhood TOD Plan area, and $1.5 million for street-tree implementation and urban forestry. The payments could be phased over five years beginning with issuance of the project’s first certificate of occupancy.
The developer also would provide at least 38 affordable rental units beyond those required under the city’s existing affordable-housing rules, the measure indicates. The units would either be rented to households earning up to 80% of area median income for at least 30 years, or to households earning up to 120% of AMI for at least 60 years.
Other community benefits are sought as well.
Those include a new city bus stop along the project’s street frontage, if a location is identified by the city Department of Transportation Services, or improvements to an existing nearby bus stop. The developer also would provide a Biki bikeshare station or another city-approved bikeshare station near the project or at the project site, the measure states.
But before receiving any building permits, the developer will have to submit a construction management plan, traffic management plan and updated traffic impact report to DPP for review and approval.
The construction management plan, according to the measure, would have to address heavy-truck routes, construction traffic, staging areas, peak-hour restrictions and impacts on surrounding streets.
The traffic management plan would have to include strategies to reduce vehicle trips by project residents, guests and employees, including possible carpooling, ridesharing, transit, bicycle and pedestrian incentives. It also would have to include a parking management plan covering high-use parking and loading areas, the measure states.
Council approval of the conceptual plan, however, would not approve the start of construction. The developer would still have to obtain the Major Special District Permit and separate building, grading, grubbing and other permits, according to the resolution.
If approved, the developer would have 60 months after issuance of the Major Special District Permit to obtain a building permit. The deadline could be extended for good cause under conditions outlined in the resolution, with Council approval required for extensions beyond one year past the initial deadline.
The measure also indicates any increase in the project’s height or density would constitute a significant alteration requiring a new application and Council approval.
During the zoning hearing Sept. 24, the 1588 Ala Moana project and its accompanying resolution received positive support from the building and local trades unions.
In written testimony for that meeting, Ralph T. Inouye, CEO of Honolulu-based Alaka’i Mechanical Corp., backed the project.
“Our business depends on a steady flow of construction work to keep employees working and to bring new tradespeople into the industry,” he wrote. “Large-scale projects like this one give local mechanical contractors like ours the kind of sustained work that supports long-term careers, not just short-term jobs.
“Beyond the construction jobs it creates, this project also adds meaningfully to our housing supply, which matters directly to our employees, who must deal with Oahu’s tight housing market,” Inouye wrote.
In written testimony, Dylan Armstrong, an urban planner, said 1588 Ala Moana needed more work.
Armstrong argued the project’s upper-level setbacks would hurt walkability and the streetscape while leaving valuable space above the development underutilized. He noted the project could use that unused space to provide additional housing.
“Let’s put our people back to work, but on improved projects which truly, deeply, and holistically enhance Honolulu,” Armstrong wrote. “The current Conceptual Plan needs more ambition.”
The Council meeting begins at 10 a.m. at 530 S. King St.
