HONOLULU — The state remains roughly on pace to reach a new milestone in the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District project in September, according to officials. However, there is some give and take that must occur before the next box can be checked off.
An updated timetable of late September, not early, for the selection of a preferred offeror was revealed at the Stadium Authority’s monthly meeting inside shuttered Aloha Stadium on Wednesday morning.
There is only one bidding team to choose from, Aloha Halawa District Partners (AHDP), after the other finalist, Waiola Development Partners, dropped out in June. AHDP submitted its proposal by the deadline of July 31. NASED’s selection committee, led by the Department of Accounting and General Services, has been in the process of reviewing it.
The committee of about a half-dozen people recently returned the proposal to AHDP with a Request for Clarifications, deputy stadium manager Chris Sadayasu said during Wednesday’s meeting.
“There were some significant questions that they had. There were some items that needed clarification, additional information, that affect the material parts of the proposal,” Sadayasu said. “That’s why it’s taking longer than (early September).
“(We’re) just making sure that the commitments are solid, that we have the right members of the team, because they (AHDP) had to add an operator, so we just had to get more information regarding that.”
Sadayasu said the proposal was “positively received” overall and communication between the parties has been on a weekly basis.
“Looking forward to getting to that preferred offeror stage,” he said.
NASED’s timetable calls for the preferred offeror to work with the state on details in the “Diligence and Discussion Phase” until the summer of 2025, when contract documents may be signed for the offeror to become the master developer and demolition work on old Aloha Stadium can begin.
If AHDP is selected, it will be tasked with construction, operation and maintenance of a minimum 25,000-seat stadium by 2028, with $350 million from the state plus the group's own money. It must also begin work on the outlying housing, business and entertainment projects on the rest of the 98-acre site. The state has another $50 million committed for miscellaneous stadium costs.
AHDP's previous disclosure of team members was: Development Ventures Group, Inc., Stanford Carr Development, LLC, Ameresco, Inc. and Aloha Stadium Community Development, LLC (The Cordish Company) as the lead equity members; RMA Architects, Populous, SB Architects, Henning Larsen, Alakea Design Group and WCIT Architects as the design team; Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company, Inc. and AECOM Hunt as the construction team; and Castle & Cooke Hawaii and Wilson Okamoto Corp as other team members.
In the meantime, the stadium continues to operate the swap meet, which is celebrating its 45th year. It also continues to host concerts with 6,000 to 8,000 spectators, and other events in its parking lot; the Stadium Authority on Wednesday approved another opening for a concert in February.
About 12,000 visitors attended the swap meets in July.
Stadium Authority chair Brennon Morioka was excused for Wednesday’s meeting; vice chair Eric Fujimoto led the meeting in his stead.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.