Pflueger eases
parking lot sale
requirements
A car dealership that wants to buy the downtown city parking lot known as Block J for $10.5 million is backing off some purchase requirements.
Pflueger Group LLC initially put a deadline of next Wednesday on City Council approval for the deal. The company also committed to providing 100 parking stalls at municipal rates for 10 years.
But in a letter Friday to Council Budget Committee Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi, Pflueger said it is willing to drop next week's deadline and will extend by two years its agreement to provide parking.
The Budget Committee is holding a special meeting today to discuss the sale.
The meeting was scheduled because of committee concerns about the sale's impact on downtown. Questions arose about parking, liability and the aesthetics of putting a car lot at the entry to downtown Honolulu.
The company wants to put a Honda dealership on the site, a 103,000-square-foot parking lot bordered by Pali Highway and Beretania, Queen Emma and Kukui streets. The city put the lot up for sale last year for $15 million.
Kobayashi said that approval depends on whether the committee gets answers to its questions from the company or Mayor Jeremy Harris' administration.
"It's more important to make sure that the city is getting a good deal," Kobayashi said.
Kobayashi also said she and others on the Council are not convinced a car dealership will beautify downtown, and will wait to hear more about Pflueger's plans to develop mixed-use business opportunities that could include a condominium.
Pflueger said it has had discussions with two potential developers on the feasibility of incorporating the car dealership at the base with a mixed-use building rising above. It is trying to get a schematic drawing of its preliminary plans to the Council.
In its letter to Kobayashi, Pflueger said it is willing to drop next Wednesday's deadline, when the full Council next meets, to give the committee more time to deliberate.
"Pflueger understands the concern expressed by the committee that the Feb. 18, 2004, deadline ... may not allow adequate time for a thoughtful and reasoned review by the Council," the letter said.
But it also must know soon if the sale will be approved because its current site on Ala Moana in Kakaako is on land leased from Kamehameha Schools, and the company is required to vacate the premises at the end of the lease.
The company also said it is willing to provide 100 municipal parking stalls for 12 years.
Providing municipal parking was not a requirement of the sale, and that encumbrance affects the value of the property. Pflueger warned that "further expansion of the parking requirement would require Pflueger to re-evaluate viability of purchasing Block J at the currently offered price."
Kobayashi said the extra revenue from any mixed-use commercial venture could help to secure municipal parking for a longer period.
Pflueger also pointed out that the Downtown Neighborhood Board voted to support the sale to Pflueger.
Board Chairwoman Lynne Matusow said in testimony to the Council that representatives of the company heard from members of the community and addressed concerns.
