AIEA, Hawaii — Leadership of the Aloha Halawa District Partners development team on Thursday laid out its vision for a new stadium on the exact site of existing Aloha Stadium and the outlying amenities dubbed “Aloha Live!”

Stanford Carr, president of Stanford Carr Development, said AHDP seeks to keep the existing concrete foundation of the North and South end zones of the shuttered stadium to save a to-be-announced sum on the pricey project.

The state is supplying a fixed $350 million for the stadium’s construction, which Carr said is not enough to build it at the minimum specifications the state’s New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District team has laid out. AHDP, a consortium of local, national and international companies, is to front the remaining cost of the stadium.

NASED’s minimum specs for at least 25,000 seats, luxury boxes and some other features are still in place, Stadium Authority chair Brennon Morioka told Spectrum News after AHDP’s presentation, and the target for its readiness is still the start of the 2028 University of Hawaii football season.

The procurement process calls for final execution of a contract between NASED and AHDP, the “preferred offeror,” to happen by June 2025.

There is a chance that demolition of old Aloha Stadium could commence before June, Morioka said, once the parties determine what materials will be retained from the old stadium.

The AHDP team displayed a half-dozen new renderings of the stadium and the entertainment area with Thursday’s pitch, the first to happen at a monthly stadium meeting. The developers said they envisioned the walk from the Halawa Skyline rail station into the new stadium as a similar experience to Downtown Disney with an array of shops and restaurants outside of the Disneyland park proper.

Joe Weinberg, president of The Cordish Company, said “the idea (of Aloha Live!) is to activate these spaces 365 days a year with different activities throughout the year.”

Carr said the group would like to house the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame and a Hawaii Music Hall of Fame within the stadium footprint, which could help subsidize the venue with paid tours.

Carr said AHDP is looking at building 4,000 units of housing, and said the idea of a school on the NASED site has been floated and that the Aiea community will have a chance to give feedback in upcoming meetings.

The group has visited the entertainment districts of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium and the Atlanta Braves’ Truist Park for inspiration, and it is to visit SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in the near future.

Renderings courtesy NASED/Aloha Halawa District Partners:

Note: This story will be updated.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.