HONOLULU — Key stakeholders say they are finally aligned on a path forward for the troubled New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District project after years of delays.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and the Stadium Authority announced on Thursday a new plan to construct a 25,000-seat stadium with considerable financial assistance from a to-be-determined entity in a public-private partnership.
“Today we got a lot lifted off our shoulders because have an administration that’s 100% behind us,” said Chris Kinimaka, public works administrator for the Department of Accounting and General Services, on a virtual call with NASED members and journalists. “As you all know, that hasn’t been 100% true over the last two years.”
The latest NASED plan calls for a single procurement and developer to construct a stadium on the current Halawa footprint of Aloha Stadium, slated for completion by the 2028 University of Hawaii football season. It caps the state’s contribution firmly at $400 million, with the rest shouldered by the private party in the P3, including any overruns, under a Design, Build, Operate and Maintain plan.
In exchange, the winning bidder would get exclusive mixed-use development rights on a to-be-determined amount of the roughly 75 acres of outlying stadium parking lot. After the developer handles operations and maintenance of the stadium for 20 or 30 years, the venue will convey to the state.
Green had expressed reservations about the previous two-pronged procurement process for private bids – one for a new stadium and one for real estate and other mixed-use purposes – saying that approach would incur too much financial risk to the state and taxpayers.
After meetings over the last month-plus, the Stadium Authority, which was at an impasse with Green’s predecessor David Ige on a way forward, agreed with Green to terminate the previous procurements, for which upward of $25 million was spent in planning.
Enthusiasm was rampant at Thursday morning's Authority board meeting, a marked change after years of stasis while key stakeholders were not aligned. Last month, for example, there was disappointment that NASED stakeholders couldn't meet up to hash out differences during the Legislative session.
The original NASED plan in 2019 called for a 35,000-seat stadium to be ready in 2023. Due to rising costs amid the delays, the model has since been scaled back considerably. However, NASED stakeholders said Thursday that the new multi-purpose stadium would have the ability to be expanded over time.
“Very exciting to have consensus for something,” board member John Fink told Spectrum News. “I can say (for) years we thought we were moving forward and then there was always a fly in the ointment or a new person who wasn’t sure about something. (Now) it seems all the pieces are in place. The New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District is going to work for the people of the state of Hawaii.”
Stadium Authority chairman Brennon Morioka first laid out the plan during an in-person meeting, then on the virtual briefing. He pledged more transparency in the process now that the previous procurements were terminated.
The change in procurements is “meant to look at placing the risks … to the most appropriate partner who can best manage that risk,” Morioka said. “We do believe the net risk is reduced to the state overall through this contractual relationship and this process.”
Stakeholders also celebrated the simplified format of the future procurement, with one private entity to act as the developer for the whole 98-acre site instead of potentially multiple groups working with the state.
A market-sounding webinar – essentially, a give-and-take of ideas – will be held June 14 for prospective bidders, such as the three teams of developers who have stood by for years awaiting a Request for Proposals to be issued. The new timetable calls for the RFP to go out in roughly the summer of 2024, with a contract to be signed in mid-2025 and demolition of the old stadium to ensue.
The first step for the RFP is to put forth a Request for Qualifications this fall to winnow the pool of bidders to three at the most.
State Sen. Glenn Wakai, who represents Halawa, reacted favorably to Thursday’s announcement, though he said he wished the RFP process was further along. He told Spectrum News that the winning developer could have to sink about $150 million of its own money into the stadium for it to include desired seating and amenities benchmarks, for a total cost of $550 million for the facility.
“It’s a much better financing plan. The old model (of multiple developers) was kind of just an odd approach,” Wakai said. “The stadium itself was not going to be cash-positive from the get-go. Versus doing mixed-use, the condos, shopping center … you can sell the pieces of that before you even move any dirt. It makes much more sense that all the financing be put into one RFP so that the money making, mixed-use, can help subsidize the stadium construction.”
Kinimaka, Fink, Morioka and others emphasized the need for the new facility to be multi-purpose beyond UH football for things like concerts, graduations, high school sports and outside leagues like United Soccer League or Major League Rugby.
Stadium Manager Ryan Andrews said he’s been in touch with parties who’d expressed interest in using the new stadium, such as the USL, which has floated the concept of two soccer franchises based in Hawaii. That interest has remained through frustration about the ongoing project delays, Andrews said.
“It is in (the developer’s) best interest and our expectations that this facility will be built not just to serve UH football, but other forms of entertainment opportunities such as soccer, rugby and concerts as well,” Morioka said.
NASED stakeholders said it would be made clear in the future procurement that the more features that can be built into the stadium, the better: individual seats over bleacher seats, luxury boxes, rigging and amenities for concerts, and the number of locker rooms.
Spectrum News asked Fink and Wakai if there was a risk that the private developer would skimp on costs for the stadium to save on their expenses. Fink said it was a fair question.
“I’m assuming (in) the procurement process, the mandates will make it clear that they can’t do that,” Fink said. “The cynical side of me would say, ‘let’s cut here so we can make more.’ But I think the outside opportunities will make it make more sense for them to be able to make sure we get what we’re requiring, not requesting in terms of minimums for the stadium itself.”
Said Wakai, “The developer will be on the hook for 30 years to maintain the facility. With that requirement, they’re not going to build a stadium out of cardboard. They’re going to put in quality products because if things go in that direction from a safety and structural standpoint, they’re on the hook for fixing it. They’re going to build it right the first time.”
A stadium roof – a feature of previous mock-ups done by Crawford Architects – will not be part of the new RFP but hasn’t been ruled out as a future feature.
“My preference also is not to put a roof on the first expansion, because once you put the roof on, that’s it, you’re limited to that seating capacity in perpetuity,” Morioka said. “You can add a little more, but not much. Whereas if you have … other revenue opportunities to look at expansion, I would imagine what it would take to expand the number of seats first before we put a roof on top.”
It was unclear how quickly the developer would be expected to expand the stadium if it generated sufficient revenue from its mixed-use developments. But the groundwork for expansion would be built into the stadium at the outset.
The private bidders will be expected to present a master plan, broken down into phases for construction. Phase 1, for example, could constitute housing and commercial development between the new stadium and the nearby rail station that will open as part of HART’s scheduled launch on June 30.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.