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Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

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<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Must be the "seefood" diet</title>

Today's social media find comes from hawaiisonly, living off the bounty of the ocean.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Must be the "seefood" diet

Things can go wrong when you try to make a good impression! 

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Real Estate

Business & Tourism

Kamehameha Schools has sold its remaining interest in the Royal Hawaiian hotel, selling the lease fee landholdings under the iconic pink oceanfront resort to Japan-based Daisho Co. for $510 million.

The transaction closed Nov. 6, KS said in an 

According to KS, the property will continue to be held and operated under its current long-term ground lease to 

Daisho Co. is a private, family-owned company with hospitality holdings in Asia and the Pacific, KS noted. This is the company’s first commercial venture in the Islands.

, KS says it manages its portfolio as one that “evolves to meet the needs of the trust and the Native Hawaiian community.”

“In a globally competitive market, Ke Kula ‘o Kamehameha must manage Pauahi’s portfolio with care and strategy, mindful of how best to position our ‘āina to serve the evolving needs of our lāhui, both today and for generations to come,” the announcement states. “This means sometimes acquiring ‘āina, sometimes restoring it, and at times, when conditions call for change, releasing lands so their value can further the mission in new ways.”

KS sold the buildings and improvements at the neighboring Royal Hawaiian Center in 2014 — you can read more 

 — but said in the Nov. 7 announcement it is “not presently considering a sale” of its remaining interest in the lands underneath the shopping center.

Crystal Rose, chair of the KS Board of Trustees, said in the announcement that the trust only sells land “after much deep and agonizing consideration.”

“Our kuleana is to steward a dynamic portfolio that best serves our trust. At the same time, we know that our lands carry historical significance, especially this one, which our founder and generations of ali‘i before her had nurtured,” she says.

KS CEO Jack Wong said in the announcement that in the coming months, KS will meet with its school communities, alumni and lāhui to discuss and better explain its changing role as a landowner.

Dubbed the “Pink Palace of the Pacific,” what’s now called the Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, Waikīkī, opened nearly a century ago on Feb. 1, 1927, and was built for $4 million by the Matson Navigation Co., as a “luxurious resort for Matson passengers,” a 

Following the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy recreation and morale office leased the Royal Hawaiian, “transforming the resort into a major rest and relaxation center for Navy personnel,” the site reads. “The resort was restored to its pre-war elegance in 1947.”

KS is one of the largest landowners in the state, according to the 

, ranking third behind the state and federal government with more than 373,000 acres.

In August 2024, KS announced it would pay a total of $872.5 million as part of a $4 billion global settlement in the wake of the 2023 Maui wildfires. Read more about that 

It’s also gearing up for another legal battle: Virginia-based nonprofit Students for Fair Admissions recently filed a 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Royal hawaiian unsplash

<title>Kamehameha Schools sells land under Royal Hawaiian for $510M</title>

Japan-based Daisho Co. is now the fee-simple owner. The property, however, will continue to be held and operated under its current long-term ground lease to Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts, KS says.

Kamehameha Schools sells land under Royal Hawaiian for $510M

It’s not news that Ward Village — Howard Hughes' 60-acre master-planned community located between Downtown Honolulu and Waikīkī — is steadily progressing with its redevelopment in Kaka‘ako.

This year alone, the developer has opened two parks, welcomed residents to its newest residential tower and broke ground on another.

But pre-sales of units within Ward Village’s newest towers have driven condo sales in the third quarter.

 notes that developer has contracted to sell 216 condo units in Hawai‘i, which represents $1.4 billion in pre-sales. 

That includes 208 units in Melia and ‘Ilima, luxury towers planned at the current site of Ward Centre, which were 57% pre-sold by Sept. 30, the end of the quarter.

The 33-story ‘Ilima Ward Village will have 148 homes while Melia Ward Village, its 35-story companion, will offer 221 residences. 

Together, those towers generated $280 million in penthouse pre-sales, an announcement from Ward Village noted. 

The Launiu, Ward Village’s 11th residential tower, which broke ground 

, was a little more than two-thirds pre-sold by the end of Q3.

Ward Village has sold out its first eight mixed-use residential towers: Waiea, Anaha, Ae‘o, Ke Kilohana, ‘A‘ali‘i, Kō‘ula, Victoria Place and Ulana Ward Village.

New residential buildings under construction or in development at Ward Village include The Park Ward Village, Kalae, The Launiu Ward Village, Melia Ward Village and ‘Ilima Ward Village.

The developer says 2,070 residences have been sold or pre-sold that across the community’s six newest towers, including 100% of the newly opened Ulana Ward Village, 97% of The Park Ward Village

, 93% of Kalae and 68% of The Launiu Ward Village.

The success of Ward Village underscores the enduring value of a long-range strategy that prioritizes quality, sustainability, and community connectivity in the heart of Honolulu,” said 

Doug Johnstone, president of Hawai‘i Region and National Condominium Development for Howard Hughes Communities

, in a statement. “By delivering homes across diverse market segments, activating vibrant public spaces, and cultivating a dynamic retail environment, Ward Village has created a thriving community that supports housing production, job growth, and Hawai‘i’s broader economy.”

Also in Ward Village, Ka La‘i o Kukuluāe‘o Park 

 and the makai phase of Victoria Ward Park 

, located between residential towers Victoria Place, which 

, and is bordered by Auahi Street on one side and Ala Moana Boulevard on the other.

Additionally, a $17.8 million elevated walkway connecting Victoria Ward Park Makai to Ala Moana Beach Park and Kewalo Basin 

01 Ward Village Aerial courtesy of Ward Village

<title>Ward Village tops $1.4 billion in pre-sales</title>

The developer says that 2,070 residences in its six newest towers have been sold or pre-sold.

Ward Village tops $1.4 billion in pre-sales

Government & Politics

A Waikīkī property where a long-abandoned apartment building sat is now empty and its redevelopment has taken another step forward.

The City and County of Honolulu has selected Centre Urban Real Estate as its "preferred negotiating partner" for the redevelopment of 1615 Ala Wai Blvd.

The city, which acquired the property through condemnation in January 2024, demolished the existing, dilapidated building to make way for a future affordable housing development.

 and is on track to be finished by the first week of August — weeks ahead of schedule, the city said in an announcement Thursday. The site is already largely cleared.

Kevin Auger, director-designate of the city's Department of Housing and Land Management, told Aloha State Daily in an emailed response to questions that per the request for qualification issued by the city, the “negotiating partner” designation "initiates an exclusive negotiation period but does not obligate the city to enter into any agreement. It allows the city to begin structured discussions with the selected team to finalize deal terms, while reserving the right to cancel or reopen negotiations if it is in the city’s best interest."

Centre Urban Real Estate and the city now have 120 days to finalize a development agreement and ground lease, he said.

"After that, the project will move into predevelopment, which includes community engagement, design development, entitlements and permitting," Auger explained. "Securing financing will also be a critical next step. Construction timing is contingent upon the completion of these key milestones, so it’s too early to project a definitive start date at this stage."

Built in 1949, the apartment sat empty for more than two decades and had become "a magnet for blight, vandalism and trespassing" 

as well a source of "long-standing community concern," 

The selection of a development partner is an "exciting new chapter" for the property, Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in the announcement.

“We have taken this site from decades of vacancy and blight to a point where we can now reimagine its future," he continued. "This project represents our administration’s commitment to delivering housing that serves local residents and strengthens our communities. Just as importantly, we are committed to engaging with the Waikīkī community every step of the way to make sure we get this right for the people who live and work here.”

According to the city, Centre Urban Real Estate is a "vertically integrated real estate firm focused on urban infill and workforce housing."

Principal Martin Nguyen said in the announcement that the firm is "honored" to partner with the city on the redevelopment.

“As a local boy, I’m especially proud to be part of a team bringing forward a vision that reflects the natural evolution of the 1940s-era walk-up that has long stood on this site — an opportunity to pay homage to the past while addressing the pressing housing needs of today," he continued. "We are committed to being rightful stewards of this transformation, delivering high-quality, affordable housing in Waikīkī, the economic engine of Honolulu. We look forward to working closely with DHLM and the Waikīkī community throughout this journey.”

Partnering with the development community to build housing on city-owned lands is one of the components of a 

 the city unveiled earlier this year. You can 

Around the time the plan was announced, Honolulu 

 for the redevelopment of four underutilized city-owned properties into affordable rental projects: 1615 Ala Wai Blvd., 436 Ena Road, 130 S. Beretania St.; and 1421 Pensacola St.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

1615 Ala Wai exterior 070925

<title>Honolulu selects preferred partner for redevelopment of Waikīkī property</title>

The City and County of Honolulu, which acquired the property at 1615 Ala Wai Blvd. through condemnation in January 2024, is demolishing an existing, long-vacant building to make way for a future affordable housing development. Demolition began earlier this month.

Honolulu selects preferred partner for redevelopment of Waikīkī property

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

The National Science Foundation revealed Friday that it will not fund the Thirty Meter Telescope project on Maunakea, leaving the future of the project in jeopardy.

On Friday, NSF published a Congressional 

 for the 2026 fiscal year which briefly mentioned that the federal agency has removed TMT from consideration for funding for its U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Project.

The agency had announced in 2024 that it could only feasibly fund one of two large-scale telescope projects: either TMT on Maunakea, or the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile.

The Friday announcement leaves $1.6 billion off the table for TMT, which TMT officials had 

 is essential for the completion of the project.

TMT project manager Fengchuan Liu said in a statement Monday that TMT is “disappointed” in NSF’s decision but still imagined a scenario where the project can receive federal funds.

“We remain firmly committed to finding a path forward for TMT,” Liu said in his statement. “We can imagine a future in which NSF participation in the TMT would open opportunities for significant discovery to the entire U.S. science community, and welcome further conversations to make this a reality.”

While the budget request does not shed much light on NSF’s decision to reject TMT — it devotes all of one paragraph to the Extremely Large Telescope project — the decision was informed by the findings of a 2024 panel evaluating both projects.

The panel was made up of four science advisors: Persis Drell, former director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California; Kelvin Droegemeier, former director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Rick Farnsworth, former associate director of the NSF National Radio Astronomy Observatory; and James Hurrell, former director of the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research.

 was published Dec. 2024. While the report doesn’t make any explicit recommendations, it does highlight some key deficiencies in the TMT project that may have ruled it out.

Critically, the evaluation notes that site access on Maunakea is a key risk to the entire project, and that being unable to build on the summit would be “an existential threat” to the entire enterprise.

The question of access has loomed over the project for decades. In 2019, Native Hawaiian protestors, in an effort to protect the mountain from further industrial development, camped for months at the Maunakea Access Road, leading to multiple standoffs with police and the arrest of 33 kūpuna.

While TMT has named the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands as a possible alternate site, the evaluation determined that contingency has not been developed to the same level as the Maunakea plans.

“If it became apparent Maunakea was not going to be available, (TMT) would switch to adapting plans for TMT to the Canary Islands site,” the evaluation read. “There was no timeline associated with these decision points … The panel finds (TMT’s) mitigation strategy for this risk, taken as a whole, to be inadequate.”

The backlash by Native Hawaiians to TMT may have had another unexpected impact on the panel’s findings. The panel evaluated both projects’ ability to offer educational outreach programs from K-12 all the way to graduate programs.

But while GMT’s offerings involve universities and organizations in both the U.S. and Chile, TMT’s outreach programs are “almost exclusively focused on Indigenous Hawaiian populations.”

The evaluation stated that TMT would be best served to expand its outreach efforts as quickly as possible to jurisdictions beyond Hawai‘i.

The panel’s report concludes by setting out both projects’ strengths and weaknesses, and advising the NSF director to “optimize the use of taxpayer funding to ensure that both projects have the opportunity to succeed.”

That said, whether it was the director’s decision to cut TMT out of the budget is unclear: the NSF directorship is vacant, prior director Sethuraman Panchanathan having resigned in April.

ZOA 2023 7950 tio tmt 0018 16x9

<title>What Halted the TMT Project? A Deep Dive into Opposition - Aloha State Daily</title>

National Science Foundation documents indicate shortcomings in Thirty Meter Telescope project

Who killed TMT?

The Chamber of Commerce Hawai‘i is, ahem, engineering new ways to bring kama‘āina back to the Islands.

The Kama‘āina Come Home program connects former Hawai‘i residents who have moved to the Mainland with engineering opportunities here in the Islands.

According to the chamber, the Kama‘āina Come Home program — which is trademarked by and used with permission from the 

 — aims to reverse the loss of local talent "by showcasing career pathways, economic opportunities and quality of life in Hawai‘i."

Participants will receive one-on-one mentorship, access to an exclusive LinkedIn group and other resources, as well as networking events "to support a smooth transition back home."

McKenna Dale, manager of Workforce Development at the chamber, a statewide nonprofit that advocates for businesses in Hawai‘i, told Aloha State Daily that the program stems from the organization's Engineering Sector Partnership. These sector partnerships are industry-led public-private workforce development initiatives, and the Engineering Sector Partnership is one of five convened by the chamber, she said.

The chamber said in a recent announcement that the partnership, which was launched in 2018, focuses on career awareness, math readiness, and women in STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math, "to build a strong engineering talent pipeline from kindergarten through career."

Dale said Kama‘āina Come Home is the flagship program of the Talent Recruitment and Retention action team, the  fourth and newest action team, or priority focus area, for the Engineering Sector Partnership.

The idea of Kama‘āina Come Home, Dale says, is to connect engineering students and professionals who are originally from the Islands and living on the Mainland with engineering companies and professionals here in Hawai‘i "for informational interviews and for network expansion," with the goal to find the right career opportunity for that person.

"Brain drain is such a huge issue and a hot-button topic in Hawai‘i, so we're really trying to create a program that offers this one-stop shop that offers a resource and a gateway to connect with local professionals and folks who are both eager to help you find work, eager to help you make connections and really just even advise on the personal, interpersonal decision of returning back to Hawai‘i, which is obviously a high-cost state to live in," she said. "[We are] really seeing this program as an opportunity for folks who are curious about coming home to enter in a community of folks who can help them make that possible."

Dale says the program's website went live in December and an active LinkedIn group is the "cornerstone of the program for the time being." In that group, students or engineering professionals on the Mainland looking to explore opportunities and make connections, and local engineering professionals wanting to help those individuals, can connect. But the chamber is looking to launch a more formal mentorship program in the spring.

So far, Dale says more than 80 local professionals have signed up for the program, while Mainland recruitment efforts have really just started, she said, noting that about a dozen job seekers from the Mainland are currently participating in the program. The chamber is looking to expand that reach in the coming months.

Why is it important for the chamber to focus on bringing kama‘āina back to the Islands?

"I think that out-migration and brain drain is not only a critical workforce issue and a critical economic issue, but I think it's a very personal issue, with people's families having to move away due to the high cost of living, lack of opportunities — all sorts of different reasons," Dale said. "And the chamber, as a voice of business in Hawai‘i, is very invested in making sure that not only Hawai‘i's business community is thriving but the workforce is also thriving."

Businesses interested in joining the initiative or kama‘āina looking for opportunities to return home, visit the program 

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Must be the "seefood" diet

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