The Ward Research Inc. conducted a poll for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now, which showed that approximately 54 percent of Oahu's residents are concerned that too much development has been planned for Kakaako and that it is happening too quickly. However, 43 percent of residents surveyed felt that it is better to satisfy demand for new housing by building in the urban area instead of elsewhere on Oahu. Ward Research stated that there was a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
Nearly 40 years ago, state officials had created a vision of transforming Kakaako from an industrial neighborhood to a mix-used neighborhood with residents living in high-rises. In 1976, the Hawaii Community Development Authority was created to has spent almost $200 million since then upgrading the sewer systems, roads and infrastructure to encourage developers to create a dense urban neighborhood. Currently, the Howard Hughes Corp and Kamehameha Schools are planning to build a total of 29 new towers in Kakaako over the next two decades.
In recent months, there has been a lot of concern from residents stating that the new towers will block view channels of existing towers as well as that the additional towers will create traffic congestion and may be too much for the current sewer and water infrastructure. Others worry that there will be inadequate police, medical care, and schools to handle the additional population. However, this latest poll also indicated that many Oahu residents would rather concentrate redevelopment to Kakaako as opposed to have new housing projects throughout the rest of the island.
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 2-18-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
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