There are long-term plans in the works for the redevelopment of Iwilei, but before that can take place, infrastructure there will need to be improved.
That includes the water systems. Sewer lines. Roads. Drainage. Electrical systems. Telecommunication systems.
The Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corp. recently published the final environmental impact statement for the Iwilei Infrastructure Improvement Master Plan and Liliha Civic Center project.
According to the EIS, which was published in the state's Environmental Notice late last month, the Iwilei infrastructure plan covers 555 acres in Iwilei-Kapālama and proposes improvements that will help help advance state and City and County of Honolulu's transit-oriented development goals there.
Randy Chu, HHFDC's development branch chief, told Aloha State Daily that redevelopment in Honolulu is moving west.
"The next area where we foresee that redevelopment is going to happen is moving westward, so it's Iwilei, Kapālama, Kalihi," he said.
HHFDC — the state agency that oversees affordable housing finance and development in Hawai‘i, its website notes — commissioned the master plan to determine what will be needed to facilitate redevelopment, Chu says, noting that the lack of infrastructure is one of the biggest issues preventing development from moving forward.
"The roads, the sewer lines, the water lines were all designed 40, 50 years ago," he explained. "Now that we want to increase the density, there's more demand, so you have to upsize all these facilities, the infrastructure. That's what we wanted to do — identify what do we need to do to enable development or redevelopment of the area."
For the master plan, Chu says HHFDC spoke with the various landowners in the area and the city, then determined what was need to improve the sewer lines, water lines, drainage lines, the electrical system, telecommunication systems and streets.
Based on the goals of the Kalihi Neighborhood TOD Plan and the Downtown Neighborhood TOD Plan to transform the area into a"high-intensity, full-service mixed-use district" over the next three-plus decades, the EIS says that the infrastructure master plan aims to find the potential alignment, phasing and costs for improvements to the existing infrastructure systems.
These improvements will allow for the development of some 27,500 new housing units and the change in use of nearly 2 million square feet of existing commercial, institutional, industrial and mixed-use space, it notes.
Any work will need to be a phased approach — Chu says the cost to improve the infrastructure is estimated to be around $1.3 billion.
Meanwhile, the Liliha Civic Center Master Plan proposes a mixed-use development on nearly 3.8 acres in Iwilei in a collaboration between HHFDC and the state Department of Accounting and General Services.
As far as the Liliha Civic Center Master Plan, Chu says site is a state-owned property at the corner of King Street and Iwilei Road. Potential plans call for two towers, one with space for government offices and the second that would have up to 600 affordable units, he said.
"Why at that location? Because the Kūwili rail station is a couple hundred yards away," he said. "It would be ideal for TOD or transit-oriented development. And King Street is a main artery for the bus, too. So, perfect location where it's close to town, where people can work and live."
In Honolulu, transit-oriented development, or TOD, is a mixed-used development within a five- to 10-minute walk of a rail station.
Now that the final EIS has been published, Chu says implementation is the next step. That means "finding the money to do it and doing it in a phased order such that we can afford it."
As far as a timeline, the EIS notes that the master plan was analyzed in four phases and expected to completed in the next five to 30-plus years.
Iwilei is, indeed, primed for redevelopment. The City and County of Honolulu is among the property owners with big plans in the works, centered around the rail development.
In December 2023, the city acquired the former First Hawaiian Bank building at 445 N. King St. for $8.4 million and in January 2024 it acquired the Iwilei Center for $51.5 million.
The city's three-year strategic housing plan, which was unveiled in February, says these acquisitions, which total nearly five acres of land, "will form the catalyst of its redevelopment and revitalization efforts around the Kūwili Rail Station in Iwilei, consistent with the Downtown TOD Neighborhood Plan."
In March, the city's Department of Land Management, in partnership with the mayor's Office of Housing, issued a request for qualifications for the redevelopment of the Iwilei Center.
Late last month, the city also announced it was moving forward with the next phase of the Kūwili Station TOD area redevelopment, and that the Department of Design and Construction, in partnership with the Department of Land Management and the Mayor’s Office of Housing was beginning outreach to property owners along Ka‘aahi Street to start the acquisition process for additional parcels of land.
"Acquisition of these additional parcels of land is necessary to advance its master planning efforts for the Kūwili Station TOD Redevelopment Area by enabling the redevelopment of key blocks into new affordable housing, infrastructure improvements, and public amenities that support a vibrant, transit-oriented neighborhood," the city said in a March 31 announcement. "In addition to supporting affordable housing and improved accessibility, these land acquisitions aim to address critical environmental concerns, including flooding and rising sea levels. These risks will be assessed and mitigated as part of the city’s comprehensive master planning effort, ensuring that redevelopment in the Kūwili Station area is resilient and sustainable."
"Redevelopment is not a bad thing," Chu said. "When you really think about it, what was built 50 years ago was adequate at that time — single-family homes, one-story buildings. But this is a different time, where land is so expensive that you need to make better use of the land. ... At this point in time, we've got to look at using more density to maximize the use of the land."
The EIS, which includes a list of impacts and proposed mitigation, can be found here.
Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
