The Kakaako waterfront district has long been considered the last diamond-in-the-rough for urban Honolulu, which is why its redevelopment has been deserving of special attention. Clearly, the land-sea vistas possible from high-rise towers offer great profit potential to developers, but to the people who are already Honolulu residents, those same assets make its value inestimable.
So it’s crucial that the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency given custody over Kakaako redevelopment, ensures that the public space in the pending Ward Village Gateway project, now under development by Howard Hughes Corp., be as welcoming to the public as possible.
The Gateway project will be built around where Ward Warehouse now stands.
Much of the public comment of the project so far has been positive. Some of the variances Hughes is seeking could be a plus, if, as promised, the result is a more engaging public space at the street level.
In particular, Hughes touts the way its vision for the area would reopen an ocean view fronting Kewalo Basin Harbor that the existing shopping complex now obscures from Auahi Street. That space totals almost exactly an acre.
There is a lot to like about the prospect of open space at that location, of course — as long as the public has access to it.
Because the approval for the Hughes master plan was granted when the area was being developed by General Growth Properties, the 2005 rules governing public space apply, not the 2011 revision, said Lindsey Doi, HCDA spokeswoman.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since the requirements in 2005 were for open space provided at ground level, which ought to make public access easier by design.
According to an HCDA document on those requirements, open space must be "unobstructed overhead (open to the sky), landscaped or maintained as a recreational or social facility," and must exclude anything used as a driveway or areas used for loading, storage or parking.
"They (Hughes) have stated that the ground level public plaza will more than satisfy their requirements and will be accessible to the public, as it will serve to connect the future rail station all the way to Kewalo Basin Harbor," Doi said in response to a Star-Advertiser query.
However, the devil is in the details, and the details are not yet available.
David Striph, Hughes’ senior vice president for Hawaii, met with the Star-Advertiser editorial board last month and said what’s been described as "a beautiful park" has not been designed yet.
So although the preliminary artist’s rendering for the park looks attractive, centered on an underground stream the developers hope to restore, nobody really knows what it will look like, especially in the context of adjacent towers and townhouses that will serve as luxury condominiums.
Will there be comfortable places for the public to linger and relax?
What will be the nature of the landscaping or "recreational or social facility?"
How would the public access the area from the street?
The reality of the final product will depend on factors that, understandably, can’t be known at this juncture.
Hughes has been meeting with the existing tenants at Ward Warehouse and some have expressed interest in staying. But the kind of retail tenants that will operate at street level haven’t been set, and that roster will help determine the customers who will be lured to the area.
Striph said in the meeting the park design will include input Hughes was gathering from prospective tenants. So HCDA should be able to secure a clearer commitment on the design details of public space before making a decision.
And that decision shouldn’t be pushed earlier than the Dec. 3 date that is now set — Hughes has requested an earlier verdict, on Nov. 19. The public should be given the full allowance of time to weigh in.
In the Ward district, Striph said, "we want to keep that same local flavor we have today."
Honolulu residents would like to hold him to that promise. And fulfilling it begins with the realization of the public space.