As Kamehameha Schools enters its sixth year in its 15-year “Our Kakaako” master plan, which covers nine blocks mauka of Ala Moana Boulevard in Honolulu, there may be some parts of the development that will be utilized for “interim uses,” the chair of the trust’s board of trustees told PBN.
Lance Wilhelm, chairman of Kamehameha Schools’ Board of Trustees, said that interim uses describes the trust’s leasing activities within the blocks not yet under construction.
He noted that in those circumstances, as it has done with some of the retail frontage in what will eventually become “Salt at Our Kakaako,” Kamehameha Schools was able to find small businesses that needed flexible space either to incubate an idea or launch a new concept.
“Those uses, while relatively short term, help create excitement and bring new energy to a space that might otherwise sit dormant for an extended period of time,” Wilhelm, the former Kiewit Hawaii executive who is now managing principal for California developer Irongate, told PBN in an email. “Ultimately, it will be the market that dictates the exact nature and timing of any development activity in Our Kakaako, and that market remains very strong today.”
The projects currently underway include Alexander & Baldwin Inc.’s The Collection, Castle & Cooke Hawaii’s 400 Keawe project and Kamehameha Schools’ restaurant and retail center, Salt at Our Kakaako.
“[These] are examples of the active developments we expect to help bring life to Our Kakaako and support Kamehameha’s educational mission,” Wilhelm said. “All nine blocks continue to be planned for development in conformance with the entitlements that are in place, and most of them are already under active construction or in preparation for same.”
Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News