Uncertain Future for Kakaako Tower After Court Ruling
Construction on the tower is moving ahead while the attorney general’s office mulls options
Days after a state judge ruled that the Hawaii Community Development Authority wrongly approved a second tower at 801 South St., construction is still moving forward as the agency figures out the decision’s implications for the project and other developments in Kakaako.
Lindsey Doi, spokeswoman for HCDA, said Monday that the agency is waiting for guidance from the attorney general’s office on how to proceed with the 801 South St. highrise, which was permitted last December despite protests from neighboring residents who were upset about the project’s impact on traffic and sewer infrastructure.
Doi wasn鈥檛 sure what impact, if any, the ruling might have on other Kakaako developments or on how HCDA manages building applications.
Anne Lopez, spokeswoman for the state attorney general鈥檚 office, said, 鈥淲e will of course comply with the judge’s order and are in the process of reviewing our options at this point.鈥
Hawaii News Now that Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto ruled HCDA didn’t comply with state historic preservation laws when it approved 801 South St. Tower B and halted construction on the project.
Carl Varady, attorney for the condo association at Royal Capital Plaza which brought the lawsuit, estimated the necessary historic reviews could delay the project up to six months.
“We were shocked by the ruling,” Ryan Harada, spokesman for the building鈥檚 developer Downtown Capital, said Monday afternoon. Last week, the company announced the apartments had sold out in just three months.
Harada said the company, which wasn’t a party in the lawsuit, is waiting to hear from HCDA about what to do.
“We’re still moving along with construction until HCDA tells us not to,” he said.
