COURTESY K2 INVESTORS
Preliminary rendering of the luxury high-rise condo planned for 404 Piikoi. The project will be completed in 2011.
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Piikoi luxury condo design unveiled
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The shiny, glass condos in Kakaako include the semi-circled Nauru Tower, the chevron-shaped Hokua, and boxy Koolani.
Add a crescent-shaped condo to the mix by developer K2 Investors LLC, which is building the final phase for the 404 Piikoi project approved more than 20 years ago.
K2 Investors presented its design to the state Hawaii Community Development Authority yesterday. It also will build a more affordable mid-rise project across the street.
Construction on the tower is expected to begin at the end of 2008, with delivery in 2011.
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Developers of the newest high-rise condominium in Kakaako yesterday revealed plans for a crescent-shaped tower.
K2 Investors LLC, an affiliate of Los Angeles-based Woodridge Capital, returned yesterday to present an update on plans for the final phase of 404 Piikoi to the state Hawaii Community Development Authority. The project was first announced in September.
The luxury high-rise is now expected to offer 277 rather than 295 units, with three-bedroom configurations eliminated. As currently conceptualized, the tower will be a crescent covered with glass, similar to its neighbors. All units will be facing Diamond Head.
Construction on the tower is expected to begin at the end of next year, with delivery in 2011.
As part of the development agreement, K2 Investors will also build a separate, five-story mixed-use project including what HCDA calls "reserved housing" -- which is priced more affordably to target gap-group buyers -- at an L-shaped parcel bound by Waimanu, Piikoi and Kona Streets.
As currently planned, that project would offer 64 units, priced at an estimated $300,000 for one-bedroom units and $400,000 for two-bedroom units, divided evenly. It would also offer a restaurant space on the ground floor, measuring about 10,000 square feet.
Nishikawa said the developer's purchase of the parcel for the reserved units closed on Friday. K2 Investors will likely partner with a nonprofit group for the affordable project.
K2 Investors also agreed to give $2 million to the HCDA for parks at Queen Street in exchange for about 57,000 square feet of additional floor area for the project.
The luxury tower, on the other hand, is expected to be 400 feet tall, comparable to new residential condos like its next-door neighbor, Koolani at 1189 Waimanu St., as well as Hokua at 1288 Ala Moana.
Crescent Heights, the Miami-based developer of the Koolani, originally planned a mid-luxury tower at the site, but decided to sell it early this year.
A public hearing on requested modifications for phase four of 404 Piikoi is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 9.
The development permit for the area was originally approved by the authority in 1984 -- as the last phase in a project that included five towers on 17.25 acres. The permit has been amended and modified several times over the years.
Completed phases of the project include the Nauru Tower, Hawaiki Tower, 1133 Waimanu and Koolani.
Land use official to head HCDA
The state Hawaii Community Development Authority yesterday selected Anthony J.H. Ching as its new executive director. Ching, 54, will assume his duties at the state agency overseeing the redevelopment of Kakaako and Kalaeloa on Jan. 2.
Ching, most recently the executive officer of the state Land Use Commission, a post he's held since 2001, fills the position vacated by Daniel Dinell.
The LUC oversees land use throughout the state, including petitions for boundary changes and the reclassification of agricultural lands to urban or rural, as was eventually required by the controversial Hokulia development on the Big Island.
"I am excited about the work being carried out by HCDA," said Ching. "The agency and its board are in the forefront of working with government agencies, the public, and stakeholders in ensuring that Kakaako and Kalaeloa become vibrant and vital communities."
Ching has more than 25 years of experience as an administrator in state agencies. Previous to heading the LUC, he held positions as the deputy director of health, environmental ombudsman and senior planner for the state Department of Health. In the late 1980s, he was also a planner for the Governor's office of state planning, in which he served on a Honolulu waterfront project team.