A new apartment tower in Moiliili for university students is slated to open Aug. 16 with chic furnishings, a fitness center and a rooftop terrace lounge. But parking could be problematic because of a dispute over a private lane.
For more than a year as the 14-story building has risen, a neighboring landowner that owns the portion of Kahuna Lane abutting one side of the tower site has objected to its lane serving as the only access to the tower’s parking garage.
The lane owner, local investment firm The Malulani Group, formerly known as Magoon Brothers Ltd., argues in court filings that the tower for 590 students will overburden its segment of the lane and make it unsafe.
“We’re just trying to make sure Kahuna Lane is used safely,” said Joachim Cox, a local attorney with Cox Fricke representing Malulani. “It’s not suited for that kind of traffic.”
The developer of the student housing project called Hale Mahana Apartments argues that the city consented to the traffic plan for the tower and that Malulani shouldn’t be allowed to restrict use of the road after decades of allowing public thoroughfare.
“The concern that a case like this raises is whether private individuals can dictate public use,” said Michael Lam, a local attorney with Case Lombardi &Pettit representing Hale Mahana’s developer.
This dispute is one of several on Oahu pitting neighboring landowners against each other over claims of private road ownership and use. Perhaps the thorniest ongoing case involves eight roads in Kakaako where two brothers allow the public to drive on the streets but charge for roadside parking that includes spaces fronting many businesses.
Like the Kakaako situation pending in state court, the dispute over access to Hale Mahana might rely on a judge’s decision.
Hale Mahana was proposed in 2016 by California-based Laconia Development LLC with Tennessee-based EdR Collegiate Housing on a 1.1-acre site that was home to a complex of low-rise commercial buildings called University Square at the corner of University Avenue and South King Street makai of Puck’s Alley.
The $110 million tower was designed with 195 apartments ranging from studios to four- bedroom units and ground-floor retail space. Parking for the tower includes 70 stalls for residents, 130 stalls for commercial use, 84 spaces for mopeds and 208 spaces for bikes.
EdR and Laconia, doing business as Honolulu Student Housing One LLC, proposed using Kahuna Lane on the Diamond Head side of its parcel as the sole access for vehicles entering or leaving the tower. Previously, access to University Square was an entry on King Street and an exit on University Avenue. There also was a prior connection to a 43-stall parking lot via Kahuna Lane.
Lam said the developer believed Kahuna Lane was a city-owned street when it designed its development plan. In July 2016 the city Department of Planning and Permitting approved a conditional-use permit to allow student housing on the site zoned for business-mixed uses, and the permit noted the private ownership of Kahuna Lane and discussed the developer’s traffic plan, which included contributing some of the tower site to provide an extra five feet and a sidewalk to Kahuna Lane fronting the tower.
Construction began in November 2016, which is also when the developer completed its purchase of the site for $22.6 million from three local families and Central Pacific Bank.
Malulani said it was aware of the tower plan generally but didn’t find out until January 2017 that all vehicle traffic was planned for Kahuna Lane. In June 2017 Malulani filed a lawsuit in state court asking for an injunction to prohibit the developer from using Kahuna Lane as planned.
According to documents in the lawsuit, Malulani wanted the developer to improve Kahuna Lane to an acceptable city condition that included storm drains, sidewalks and a wider width for a whole block that extends makai beyond the tower site.
The developer argued that the additional width and one sidewalk added to the street makes it safe and that traffic related to the tower won’t overburden Kahuna Lane or make drainage problems worse.
Since the lawsuit was filed, Malulani has claimed that construction vehicles have illegally obstructed Kahuna Lane and disrupted business for the natural food store cooperative Kokua Market, which leases land from Malulani across from the tower. And the tower’s developer has argued that Malulani improperly tried to obstruct access to the tower site using barriers that were removed after an order from a judge.
Both sides have attempted to negotiate a settlement, but efforts to reach an agreement have failed so far. The apartment developer is expecting occupants will be able to use Kahuna Lane when the building opens Aug. 16. A trial is scheduled for August 2019.
An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the company that owns a portion of Kahuna Lane.
