The Queen Emma Land Company plans to spend approximately $350 million to completely renovate the International Market Place in Waikiki. The plan calls for a new 360,000 sq ft open air retail, dining and entertainment complex with a new five-story parking garage with 750 parking spaces. Per their public report, the center will create 1,000 construction jobs and 2,500 permanent jobs once completed. The city of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and permitting has already given their approval and granted the Queen Emma Land Company a special district permit to proceed with their renovations. The project is scheduled to break ground this year and be completed by 2015.
However, Outrigger Hotels Hawaii and Waikiki Beachcomber LLC have asked the city to withdraw the permit for the project due to the traffic that the would be created by the new complex and the noise disruptions during construction. In their filing, Outrigger noted that the city’s planning director acted in an “arbitrary or capricious manner, manifestly abused his discretion and/or acted based on erroneous findings of fact.” President and CEO of Outrigger Enterprises Group, David Carey, stated, “We filed an appeal on a couple of issues. One of them had to do with loading zones. There are a few near our buildings, and we were concerned about noise. The other aspect was parking. I drive down Kuhio Avenue every day, and I’ve got to tell you, part of their plan would change traffic.”
The Hawaii Tourism Authority’s President and CEO Mike McCartney is in favor of the project and stated, “It’s very important to refresh and revitalize and improve Waikiki, and this is the heart and soul of Waikiki. It’s equally important that this provides an important source of revenue for an alii trust, which was a legacy started by Queen Emma. It keeps The Queen’s Medical Center able to provide health care for the people in our community that don’t have it. Outrigger also is an important asset to the visitor industry and the community. We have a lot of momentum in the market, and we need to get on with improving our product for the long term.”
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 3-17-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
