Developer must revise design of proposed Ritz-Carlton Waikiki project

Developer must revise design of proposed Ritz-Carlton Waikiki project
Staff Pacific Business News  |   Mar 20, 2013, 7:16am HST

This rendering shows Pacrep LLC’s proposed 2121 Kuhio project, which will be branded The Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikiki Beach. The Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting gave conditional approval on Tuesday to the project but told the developer it must make significant design changes.

California developer Pacrep LLC has been told to make significant design revisions to a proposed $275 million 350-foot hotel condominium in Waikiki that will be branded as The Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikiki Beach before proceeding with construction.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting gave conditional approval on Tuesday to the project, but said the developer must make changes to the 37-story tower known as 2121 Kuhio to reduce its “apparent mass” which has drawn protests from the community for its wall-like appearance. The newspaper reports the developer was ordered to consider adding such architectural features as graduated, stepped forms, and told to reduce the height of the entry along Kuhio Avenue and increase the commercial space on the ground floor.

The Honolulu City Council gave its approval to the project, which would exceed current height limits by 50 feet, in January.

Pacrep has already revised its plans for the project once before to reduce the width of the building. In December, the developer filed an environmental assessment with the state that proposed changing the original 34-story tower to a 350-foot, 37-story tower, which reduced the width by 48 feet.