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Navy gives 17
companies Ford
Island plan preview

The $300 million project
will be partly funded by the
sale or lease of four Navy
parcels on Oahu

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

Seventeen local and mainland development companies got a peek yesterday into what will be the island's largest private-public joint venture -- the Navy's plan to rebuild Ford Island in the heart of Pearl Harbor.

Funding for the $300 million Ford Island redevelopment project will come from a combination of conventional military construction appropriations from Congress and sale or lease of four other Navy properties at Barbers Point, Iroquois Point, Waikele Naval Magazine and Halawa landing.

Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, Pacific Division commander, told the developers that "the Navy brings to the deal the capital, the land and the funding. We're looking for imagination from you."

After the three-hour briefing, Skip McGinley, director of government services for Fluor Corp., said the Navy's proposal is "attractive."

"It's an exceedingly complex project," said McGinley, whose southern California design and construction company has built dams, power plants and petrochemical facilities throughout the world.

"It sounds attractive to us and gives us an opportunity to work in Hawaii."

If it was a successful bidder, McGinley said his company would use island workers.

In its master plan, the Navy wants to construct on the 450-acre island:

200,000 to 250,000 square feet of administrative office space on the southeastern end of the island.

Housing for 600 families.

Bachelor quarters for 1,000 sailors.

Supporting infrastructure -- such as water, sewer, electrical and communication lines -- as well as roads, walkways and landscaping.

Carl Sato, Navy planner, noted that using the traditional planning and funding sources, it would have taken 30 years to complete the massive construction process.

Instead, the Navy sought the help of Sen. Daniel Inouye to pass special congressional legislation in 1999 where it could sell or lease some of its land here to fund the Ford Island projects.

These parcels of land include:

Long term lease rights to develop and operate commercial ventures on up to 75 acres on Ford Island. These projects could be a Navy museum or visitor center, an information technological-communications center or an oceanographic/biomedical research complex.

Leasing 6.5 acres at Halawa landing and converting it into a visitor center, parking complex or compatible commercial venture. The land is located between the Arizona Memorial and the Bowfin submarine visitor centers.

Selling 515 acres at Waikele Naval Magazine, which could be developed into a residential subdivision on a 56-acre bluff and plateau, which overlooks the existing residential community of Waikele. Ninety to 100 acres in the valley could be converted to a golf course or some other recreational facility.

Selling 675 acres at what was once Barbers Point Naval Air Station, which contains 627 family units, recreational facilities, warehouses and commercial buildings. Because 52 acres is adjacent to the Barbers Point Golf Course -- which the Navy will retain -- choice residential homes could be built along the course.

Leasing 322 acres at Iroquois Point and 41 acres at Puuloa at the western entrance to Pearl Harbor. In 1960, 1,118 family units were built at Iroquois Point and 350 at Puuloa 15 years later.

The Navy said the complex, which is bisected by a salt-water inlet, could initially be rented back to Navy personnel and later converted into a retirement community or a small resort development.

The purpose of yesterday's meeting and a tour of Ford Island and the four Navy parcels was to give potential developers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with all phases of the development proposal. The Navy will not select a developer until late 2001 or early 2002.