Castle has designs for
Kailua parking garageA public meeting will discuss the
proposal for downtown Kailua
A major landowner is thinking about building a three- or four-story parking garage in downtown Kailua and plans a public meeting later this month to discuss it.
The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation is weighing whether the $8 million-to-$10 million cost of a parking garage would be a good investment for the charitable organization, said Mitch D'Olier, president and chief executive of both the foundation and its affiliated, for-profit Kaneohe Ranch Co.
"This is something we're studying now, but we have not made a decision," D'Olier said yesterday.
The proposed parking structure would be located on Castle Foundation land mauka of the Longs Drugs store on Kailua Road.
It would be no more than 40 feet tall and would not be visible from Kailua Road, D'Olier said. By comparison, the Macy's building is 36 feet tall, and the current Longs store is 38 feet, he said.
Next month, Kaneohe Ranch will begin building a new, larger store for its longtime tenant Longs on the site of a defunct Arco gas station that fronts Kailua Road.
When the new store is complete in March, Kaneohe Ranch will renovate the old Longs (formerly a Kress store) and lease it to one or more tenants, said Kaneohe Ranch Vice President Molly Mosher-Cates.
Longs is satisfied with the amount of parking it has now but does not object to a parking garage if that is what Kaneohe Ranch believes it needs to accommodate future retail growth, said Gerald Saito, Longs Hawaii district manager.
Downtown Kailua has about 2 1/2 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of retail space, compared with the four or five spaces recommended by retailers, D'Olier said.
D'Olier has made presentations to the Kailua Chamber of Commerce and other community groups to pitch the idea in recent weeks and said the reception has been good.
"When I first heard of a new parking garage in Kailua, I kind of cringed," said City Councilwoman Barbara Marshall. But after being reassured it could not be seen from the street and that there is a need for parking in the area, Marshall said she warmed to it.
The Castle Foundation will hold a meeting 7-9 p.m. June 25 at Kailua Intermediate School to explain its parking garage proposal and get community feedback, D'Olier said.