Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs voted unanimously Thursday to reject a proposal by House Speaker Scott Saiki.
The proposal from Saiki would pay OHA for an easement over their nine parcels of land, thereby restricting residential development and preserving the area's open spaces.
OHA took ownership of these 30 acres in Kakaʻako, makai of Ala Moana Boulevard, back in 2012 as a settlement for long-overdue ceded lands revenues. Last year, a public relations campaign renamed the area Hakuone. It was the first step in asking lawmakers to give them rights to develop residential units in Kaka’ako Makai.
The Conversation spoke to Saiki before the vote and now gets the other side of the story from OHA Chair Carmen Hulu Lindsey.
Lindsey said that OHA is not interested in a land swap, but may consider more money.
"When we accepted these lands in 2012, it was valued at $200 million. And while we were asking for residential for the last, I want to say six years, we've been before the Legislature four times, we decided that maybe we should do an appraisal," Lindsey said.
She added that it's been more than 10 years since OHA accepted the lands and when they got the appraisal more than a month ago, it was below what they expected it would be.
"We were so shocked it was like $46 million, versus the $200 million," she said.
Saiki's proposal was for a "no residency," meaning that there would be building height and view restrictions. Lindsey said the reason OHA declined his offer was because of their inability to execute their large expansion plans.
"We expected it to be an economic engine for our people in perpetuity," she said on OHA's desired development.
This interview aired on The Conversation on April 7, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
