Waikiki Neighborhood Board Denies Approval for Second Ritz-Carlton Tower

In a 13 to 1 decision (with two abstentions), the Waikiki Neighborhood Board has voted to deny approval of the second Ritz-Carlton tower being proposed by developer PACREP LLC. Legally, the board's support is not actually needed for PACREP to proceed with their development, the community's decision may weigh heavily on the City Council which wold provide an exemption to allow the building to exceed existing height limitations.  The second tower would be built right next to the first tower on Kuhio Avenue and is scheduled to be 350 feet tall.  Residents are concerned that the two towers would create a continuous wall of buildings that violates Waikiki guidelines and would destroy an exhisting view channel.  Waikiki resident Mark Harpenau commented, "This is going too far. Enough is enough. Tower 1 should not be a precedent for building another wall."

Casey Federman, the Managing Director of PACREP, responded by stating, "As a result of discussions that we have had with (Waikiki community members) and the city, we've done what we can to make adjustments, specifically we've changed the project to a more mauka-makai design and we've increased the distance between the two buildings to about 75 feet.  We'll continue to work collaboratively with the city and our intent is to do the same with the community."  However, community members argue that these changes were not enough. Furthermore, there is criticism that PACREP did not disclose their plans to build a second tower while they were obtaining permitting to build the first tower.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 1-16-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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