The City and County of Honolulu is planning to invest $100 million into mixed-use development — which includes transforming Iwilei Center.
Mixed-use development integrates both residential and commercial uses.
But the state law that allows the city to finance that type of development will sunset in 2028, the year Iwilei Center is expected to break ground.
That’s why city Housing Director Kevin Auger wants the state Legislature to eliminate the 2028 deadline.
“We need it and the Legislature knows that it's really important. We can't issue bonds if we've got a sunset provision — we'll find other ways to finance, but not certain why the Legislature would withhold that approval,” he said.
“We're seeking for the counties to have the same development rights as the state Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation. I don't understand why we would have two differences — and I used to work for the state.”
He said the deadline also makes it difficult to finance projects that are planned years in advance.
There is a bill that would remove the 2028 date, but it includes a land exchange between the state and the city, which the city does not want.
The state would take the land Aliʻi Tower is on — where the city prosecutor’s office is in downtown Honolulu — in exchange for several properties including ʻAʻala Park and Liliha Civic Center.
City Managing Director Mike Formby wrote in his testimony on the measure that, “the proposed land exchange, as framed, is simply not within the best interest of City taxpayers.” The city receives rental income from the building, parking spaces and free office space for the prosecutor and his staff.
The measure awaits a hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
