Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 2013 — Navigating the development of Kakaʻako Makai [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Navigating the development of Kakaʻako Makai

'11 try to keep it simple. The state owed OHA $200 million as a settlement for back payments on the 20 percent share of ceded land revenue received by the

state. This all started in 1980. So, in 2011, 31 years later, Gov. Neil Abercrombie wants to make history by settling the debt. But the state is broke. No more kālā. So, instead of cash, he offers 25 acres of prime waterfront land at Kaka'ako Makai ('Ewa of Kewalo Basin), transferring fee title to the selected parcels from the Hawai'i Community Development Authority (HCDA) to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The state Legislature approves the settlement and OHA is now a landowner of prime real estate. But, rather than this settlement being the end of the story, it is really only the beginning. Note that OHA' s trust assets have always been about managing cash - not land. Even though we purchased a few properties that are of cultural value, these were not intended to generate revenue and are more of a collection of cultural lands that will be important to the nation when it finally emerges. So, the settlement is several steps removed from actually generating revenue. The spirit of the settlement can't be considered complete until these lands ean actually be converted into streams of cash that ean be invested in our Native Hawaiian Trust Fund portfolio, whieh now hovers at about $350 million. It's all easier said than done and therein lies the challenge for the trustees. Kaka'ako Makai has long been a subject of controversy in terms of how these lands are to be used. A significant number of community voices were raised, prior to the settlement, through the Kaka'ako Makai Community Planning Advisory Council, a

formal planning process established by the HCDA. What emerged was a conceptual plan that anticipates far less commercial and revenueproducing activity than a plan

that would seek to pursue the highest and best uses for eaeh and every parcel. Both HCDA and the Community Advisory Council were caught by surprise by the settlement. And so the question is raised, will OHA give weight to what the community has expressed when it shapes its vision for Kaka'ako Makai? I ean say that OHA does recognize that the conceptual plan we have sort of inherited still carries

weight as an official expression of the community from whieh it sprung, and

that highest and best use was the farthest thing from their minds. And yet, it is technically a fiduciary duty for trustees to engage in development planning that maximizes the settlement on behalf of our Hawaiian beneficiaries to at least the anticipated $200 million level of revenue. Navigating the dilemma will take skill, diplomacy, patience, eool heads and a lot of eommon sense. I believe, as Hawaiians, in our hearts we share the community's desire that Kaka'ako should become a gathering plaee that we all ean be proud of. We are walking the fine line to at onee generate the kind of development projects needed to financially support the trust fund and still be able to honor a promise of shoreline access and public space that support the feeling of openness of the existing park. One development idea, whieh is a priority for the Conceptual Master Plan advanced by the Community Advisory Planning Council, is to create a Cultural Public Market Plaee. Such a Cultural Public Market Plaee could be patterned after the famous Ferry Building on the San Francisco waterfront. To see an architectural rendering of what it could like, go to my home page at peterapo.com. ■

PEtEr Apū TrustEE, O'ahu