Ward Village Shops across from Ward Centre was shown yesterday in this overview photo. Plans are under way to revamp the area with more retail shops as well as residential rentals.
Ward aims
for urban villageThe rebuilding plan for Kakaako
includes more shops and 218
residential apartments
Victoria Ward Centers is proposing a large-scale Kakaako redevelopment project that could help transform the community, once marked by car dealerships and aging commercial low-rises, into an urban village where residents can live, work and play.
Chicago-based General Growth Properties, which bought Victoria Ward for $250 million in 2002, submitted plans yesterday to the state's Hawaii Community Development Authority to redesign and expand the shopping center.
The company plans to replace the 15,000-square-foot Ward Village Shops and two nearby warehouses with an approximately 160,000-square-foot retail center, topped by 218 residential rental apartments, said Jeff Dinsmore, general manager of Victoria Ward Ltd. A seven-tier garage with 1,100 parking spots would also be part of the complex to provide parking for village customers and residents, he said.
"We want to create an urban village feeling that really doesn't exist in Honolulu," Dinsmore said.
If approved, the Ward Village redevelopment, which is slated to start in January, would be the most significant addition made to Victoria Ward Centers since the opening of its 156,000-square-foot entertainment complex three years ago, he said."The idea is to build on the success that we've created," Dinsmore said. "It adds more critical mass, which retail needs, and if successful will bring new retailers to Hawaii. That's good for us and for consumers."
Victoria Ward would not release names of prospective tenants, but Dinsmore said the company is looking to fill the new space with several big-box retailers that do not have stores in Hawaii. Current tenants of the village would be relocated, Dinsmore said.
The company plans to tear down the Tesoro gas station at the corner of Ward Avenue and Auahi Street by the end of the year, he said. A new 10,000-square-foot retail building would replace the structure to house displaced village tenants, including Jamba Juice, Starbucks, Power Edge and Video Life.
The company also plans to add retail shops to its Auahi Street parking garage to house current village tenants Crazy Shirts, Roxy Quiksilver and Kua Aina Sandwich Shop, Dinsmore said. About 70 parking stalls will be removed so that Victoria Ward can create about 10,000 square feet of street-front retail space for other displaced retailers, who will likely move into their new locations next spring.
Although the original plans for Victoria Ward were strictly retail, Dinsmore said the residential component, which will be completed in late 2006, will add an element to Kakaako that was not there before.
"It's an untapped market and it provides a built-in customer base for the shopping center," Dinsmore said. "The closer the customers are to my retailers, the happier I am and they are."
Business owners and residents in Kakaako are eyeing the project with interest to see if General Growth's plan will continue the center's run of success, they said. Victoria Ward was once the laggard of Hawaii's retailing centers, but began teeming with shoppers and moviegoers after developers created an urban street-scape that combined open-air restaurants, sidewalk cafes and theaters with local and national brand-name retailers.
Visions for Kakaako have come and gone since the state set up the HCDA in 1976 to oversee the area's redevelopment, but if approved, the Victoria Ward project could enhance other projects in the community, said Daniel Dinell, executive director of HCDA.
"We're really seeing a turning point for Kakaako," Dinell said. "The dream is finally coming to fruition."
The University of Hawaii's nearly built medical school campus and associated facilities have generated interest because they are expected to drive development of Hawaii's young biosciences sector, he said.
Kamehameha Schools, the state's largest private landowner, is also applying for a special federal designation that would allow it to offer tax breaks to developers and other investors who are eyeing the trust's strategic Kakaako land holdings.
A rash of condo development is also taking place in Kakaako, Dinell said, but he added that the Victoria Ward proposal brings more excitement because it would create a modern rental market.
Dinsmore presented the plan to members of the Ala Moana/Kakaako Neighborhood Board yesterday and is expected to present the proposal to the Kakaako Improvement Association later this week.
Neighborhood board Chairman John Breinich, who has lived in Kakaako's Nauru Tower since 1991, said it's nice to see a resurgence in community development.
"It's the most rapidly developing area of Honolulu right now," Breinich said. He added that as an improving economy has sparked renewed interest in Kakaako's development, residents have become more concerned about density, traffic and infrastructure demands.
Kakaako businesses are also excited about the project's potential to spark more growth in the community, said Kendall Hee, president of the Kakaako Improvement Association, which represents more than 100 business owners in the district.
"When Ward Warehouse first came it was slow," said Hee, who has operated Engineers Surveyors Hawaii Inc. in Kakaako since 1967. "But the area began booming with the introduction of the theater complex."
Victoria Ward's newest project is unique in that it could bring more residents to Kakaako as well as retailers, he said.
"I would like to see more residents in Kakaako," Hee said. "But if that happens, the government needs to respond by adding more schools, addressing traffic concerns and providing more services."
Hawaii Community Development Authority
www.hcdaweb.org
General Growth Properties
www.generalgrowth.com
