The Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant in Honolulu will be torn down by the end of this year, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs said that it was officially starting preparations on Wednesday for the 67-year-old building’s demolition.
PBN first reported that the building at 1011 Ala Moana Blvd. was coming down soon as a demolition permit had been pulled by LVI Environmental Services Inc., which along with NCM Group Holdings LLC, two of the top providers of demolition and remediation services in the country, merged in April to form NorthStar Group Holdings LLC.
North Star Contracting Group Inc. in Waipio has started fencing off the dilapidated 10,000-square-feet, two-story building as part of the demolition project, which calls for salvaging the two restaurant signs atop the roof of the building as well as a free-standing restaurant sign at ground level and incorporating them into future development at the site.
The land is part of 30 acres OHA has owned in Kakaako Makai since August 2012, after the state and the agency officially reached a $200 million agreement to settle decades of disputes over ceded lands, the crown lands that were transferred to the Territory of Hawaii and later to the state. The land, which was conveyed to OHA, includes about 25 acres in Kakaako Makai, including the Fisherman’s Wharf property.
Private investors and others who had previously expressed interest in the property, but the building — which was built around 1940 — has become too cost-prohibitive to renovate, said OHA, which also noted that the demolition project is a direct response to health and safety concerns stemming from the building, which has become infested with termites and rats after sitting vacant for a few years.
The demolition project is happening at a time when OHA is drawing up a master plan focused on fulfilling the potential for the properties in Kakaako Makai to generate revenue that could support the agency’s efforts to fund community-based programs aimed at improving conditions for Native Hawaiians.
The state agency has chosen a design team to develop a plan for the 30 acres in Kakaako Makai, including the Kuhikuhi Puuone Collaborative, a partnership of four Hawaiian firms, including Edith Kanakaole Foundation, DTL, PBR Hawaii and WCIT Architecture .
“We expect to keep any inconvenience from the demolition to a minimum as this project allows us to address a serious health hazard and put us on a path to establish in the area a new presence that reflects a Hawaiian sense of place,” OHA CEO Kamanaopono Crabbe said in a statement.
The Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant has been closed since 2009. The owner of Pizza Bob’s in Haleiwa on Oahu’s North Shore once planned to open at the shuttered restaurant after winning a lease with the state for the space at the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Ward Avenue in 2010.
In March, OHA sent out a request for proposals for the demolition of the Fisherman’s Wharf building.
Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News