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Kaka’ako has always been about change

November 13, 2013 By idx guys Leave a Comment

HONOLULU —Kaka’ako is bounded by Ward Avenue, Punchbowl Street, King Street and the waterfront.

Kaka’ako is on the verge of change, but if you look back over the centuries, it has always been about change.

In the mid-1800s, salt production was a big business.  It’s a past that surprised many we talked to, like Kaka’ako resident Marcus Peng.

“I know this whole block will be redeveloped, will be called salt.  That’s what it is!” said Peng.

A photograph shows Aliiolani Hale, the building that stands behind the King Kamehameha statue on King Street, and how close the ocean is to it.

http://shopoahurealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Where-You-Live-Kakaako.mp4

So what happened to the water?

It began in the mid-1850s with the deepening of Honolulu Harbor.  Over the decades, the dredge material and incinerated waste was used to fill in reef tidelands and salt ponds throughout Kaka’ako.

This created dry land allowing the building of Aloha Tower, the historic pumping station and so much of Kaka’ako.

Looking at Kaka’ako and Honolulu of old with its reefs and water with an overlay of today’s buildings show all of the reclaimed land makai of Ala Moana.

With more dry land, Kaka’ako welcomed businesses and a melting pot of island residents.

Former University of Hawaii president Fujio “Fudge” Matsuda was born and raised in Kaka’ako.  He was born on the Magoon block that once stood along Queen Street.

The Matsuda family would move to a home across from Mother Waldron Park.  His parents ran Matsuda Saimin, selling a bowl of their famous saimin for a dime.

“They moved here and started the saimin stand, the saimin business, and they rebuilt from there,” said Matsuda.  “We lived upstairs and the houses were old then.  By the time we moved in, you could see through the cracks in the wall and see outside.  But, it was home.”  Comfortable.”

The house is long gone and so is the unobstructed view of the mountains Matsuda had right outside his front door.

It was a bustling neighborhood with a reputation for being a tough place to live.

“But for those of us who lived there, it was paradise,” said Matsuda.  “Because in our enclave here, we all knew each other.  We were safe.”

In the 1940s, 5,000 people called Kaka’ako home.  Following the war, most moved out and industry moved in.

By 1970, fewer than 850 people lived there.

Mixed in with the warehouses and apartment buildings, there are a few reminders of the past.

The Royal Brewery building still stands, sans the beer.  And the old Kewalo Theatre with its beautiful details — state-of-the-art when it opened in 1937.  Today, it’s a dive shop.

And now Kaka’ako prepares to change again in a very big way, and will soon welcome a whole new generation to call it home.  Peng says he’s glad he’s there.

“I enjoy it quite a bit, actually.  It’s a very comfortable place to live,” said Peng.  “It’s close to the water.  It’s really up-and-coming, is how I feel about it.”

Read more: http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii/where-you-live/where-you-live-kakaako/-/22719250/22862874/-/wfn34u/-/index.html#ixzz2kJZ2DD33

Filed Under: Featured Blog, Howard Hughes Corp, Kakaako Tagged With: Kakaako

Three condo towers, 900 units, in first phase of Howard Hughes Corp.’s Ward master plan

May 25, 2013 By idx guys Leave a Comment

May 21, 2013, 9:44am HST Updated: May 21, 2013, 1:50pm HST
Duane Shimogawa  |  Reporter- Pacific Business News

The Howard Hughes Corp. plans to add more than 900 residential units in two market-rate condominium towers and one mostly affordable residential tower as part of the first phase of its Ward Village master plan in Honolulu’s Kakaako neighborhood.

This rendering shows The Howard Hughes Corp.'s planned market-rate condominium towers, which located diagonally across the street from each other at the corner of Auahi and Kamakee streets, part of the developer's Ward Village master-planned community.

This rendering shows The Howard Hughes Corp.’s planned market-rate condominium towers, which located diagonally across the street from each other at the corner of Auahi and Kamakee streets, part of the developer’s Ward Village master-planned community.

David Striph, senior vice president of Hawaii for Dallas-based Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) said Tuesday that the developer is in the process of renovating the iconic IBM Building into a new information center and sales gallery as part of its first phase of the 60-acre urban master planned community that would eventually double the retail, dining and entertainment space in Kakaako.

Ninety percent of the units in a 415-unit tower planned for 404 Ward Ave., which would include commercial space and parking, would be affordable, with the rest market rate.

Nick Vanderboom, senior vice president of development for The Howard Hughes Corp., said that the two market rate towers — one planned for a surface parking lot across from the Consolidated Theatres Ward Stadium 16 and the other at the current Pier 1 Imports location diagonally across the street — will have a total of 500 units. Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) will be relocated to another spot to accommodate the tower.

Vanderboom said that one tower will have 300 units and the other will have 200 units, but the price ranges for both are still being worked out.

Visit www.KakaakoProperties.com for more Kaka’ako information

The plan is to build the out the first phase concurrently with the affordable tower being the first application submitted to the Hawaii Community Development Authority. A hearing for the project is scheduled for next month.

Vanderboom says he expects that it will submit applications for the other projects some time this summer.

Groundbreaking for the first phase is scheduled for early next year with an expected finish date in early 2016, he said.

Howard Hughes Corp. has selected architects for the first phase, including an unidentified local firm, but has yet to choose general contractors for the first phase, Vanderboom said.

This first phase is expected to have an economic impact of $1.25 billion, create 9,000 direct and indirect jobs and add more than 1.5 million square feet as well as more than 900 residential units to Kakaako, which is being called “The Third City.”

Howard Hughes Corp. said that it has gone beyond many of the requirements for development under the master plan approved by the HCDA, noting that the towers in the first phase will have a mauka-makai orientation, which will showcase the views for residents while preserving the skyline for others.

The company also plans to build more than three times the required affordable housing in the first phase and new buildings along Ala Moana Boulevard will be set back to create a “greenbelt lined with townhouses.”

Ward’s approved master plan allows for up to 9.3 million total square feet of mixed-use development, including more than 4,000 residential units and about 1.5 million square feet of retail and other commercial space, said David Weinreb, CEO of Howard Hughes, in a letter to shareholders in March.

He noted that Ward Village has development rights for 22 high-rise towers in an urban master-planned community setting. Ward Village’s transformation is scheduled to happen throughout the next decade.

Visit www.KakaakoProperties.com for more Kaka’ako information

Filed Under: Ala Moana - Kakaako, Featured Blog, Howard Hughes Corp, Kakaako, Luxury Condos for sale, Luxury real estate, luxury real estate Oahu, New Condos for sale Tagged With: Howard Hughes Corp, Kakaako, new condo construction, new construction

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