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‘Insane’ Oahu offshore wind farm plan gets ‘really angry meeting’
SA: … A company partly backed by the government of France is working to advance an Oahu offshore wind energy project as a federal agency prepares to possibly auction an ocean lease for such use in 2028.
Aukahi Energy LLC, a joint venture involving a subsidiary of French utility giant EDF Group, in recent months has publicly shared its vision to put 22 to 30 floating wind turbines — each taller than a football field — between Oahu and Molokai to supply about 25% of the electricity used on Oahu at an estimated cost of over $1.8 billion….
Kailua resident Gary Weller called Aukahi’s plan “insane” after listening to an Aug. 27 company presentation to the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board that followed a similar presentation to the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board on June 10.
“The last place in the entire world that anybody wants to see windmills in the ocean would be here,” Weller said during the Hawaii Kai meeting, which he attended via videoconference using a screen background dotted with wind turbines in the ocean.
Weller also attended a July town hall meeting in Waimanalo where the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management described its process for awarding ocean leases for wind energy projects, and he said the reception was overwhelmingly negative.
“That meeting,” Weller said in an interview, “turned into a really angry meeting, with many Hawaiians standing up and saying, ‘How dare you come out here and do this to our ocean? The ocean is part of our culture.’”
At one point someone stood up and asked for a show of hands from those opposed to wind turbines off Oahu, according to Weller, who said, “The entire room stood up and they held their hands up.”
State Rep. Gene Ward (R, Hawaii Kai-Kalama Valley) during the meeting in Hawaii Kai described the Waimanalo town hall reaction as something short of a display with “pitchforks and torches.”
Elizabeth Reilly, a Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board member, suggested that the board send a letter to Gov. Josh Green asking him to recognize offshore wind farms as not suited for Hawaii….
IM: Rep. Ward Asserts Offshore Wind Farms Threatens National Security | Ililani Media
Big Q: Is the proposed Aukahi Energy offshore wind farm a good idea?
read … Oahu offshore wind farm plan gets blowback
Political Connections Pay Off – CNHA profitable non-profit raking in the money
SA: … CNHA’s recent acquisition of some 43 acres of land in Hilo for an undisclosed price generated plenty of conference buzz. Lewis said CNHA could break ground as early as 2025 on its first ground-up affordable housing development, which could provide 88 affordable single-family homes in the Kaumana subdivision of Ponahawai….CNHA wants to explore opportunities to reinvigorate Banyan Drive, where the state owns and directly manages properties with ground-lease expirations, including hotels….Conventioneers also learned that CNHA’s new Hawaii island investments include the purchase of Hawai‘i Stage, formerly Hawai‘i Stage & Lighting Rentals, for an undisclosed price….
Hawai‘i Stage has been a part of CNHA’s push into Waikiki with its debut of the Kilohana Hula Show and its “Na Lei Aloha” dinner show. The Kilohana Hula Show, presented by Southwest Airlines, launched in February, and earlier this month temporarily moved to the Kuhio Beach Hula Mound to allow the city to complete renovations on the Waikiki Shell….
RELATED: After FBI Raid, CNHA Demands Hawai'i Free Press 'Cease Operations'
read … Native Hawaiian council seeks to develop economic opportunities
The Military Wants New State Land Leases. How will CNHA get money out of them?
CB: … A big question asked often at the CNHA Convention last week is what comes next for the leases for U.S. military wants to renew on state-owned land by 2029….
And, perhaps the most poignant question of the convention: Which Native Hawaiian organization is leading the military lease negotiations?
The last question was asked by Mahina Paishon of Aina Aloha Economic Futures to a ballroom of Native Hawaiian leaders. Her question was met with silence. There was no answer…
Right now, the negotiations are between the Hawaii Board of Land And Natural Resources, led by Dawn Chang, and the Pentagon. …
Hereʻs whatʻs at stake: The Pentagon leased 30,000 acres in multiple parcels of state land in 1964 for 65 years for a dollar. …
The lands include the Pohakuloa Training Ground not far from the site of the action on Mauna Kea that blocked the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope more than five years ago….
(IDEA: Support national defense by providing land for free.)
RELATED: CNHA Inside Track: Robin Danner Snags Gig in Governor's Office
read … Naka Nathaniel: The CB: Military Wants New State Land Leases. What Should We Get In Return?
Part of the Plan: Scholarships help Lahainaluna graduates afford to move to the mainland and attend college outside Hawaii
MSN: … She applied to colleges with nursing programs, channeled her feelings about surviving the fire into scholarship essays and decided she would attend UNLV — partly because its popularity among Hawaii students would make it feel a bit like home.
Using a grant from the Maui Strong Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Downtown Athletic Club of Hawaii is providing Baniqued and her 12 classmates with about $25,000 each — meant to cover out-of-state college costs after other scholarships and financial aid for the first year….
read … Scholarships help Lahainaluna graduates afford to move to the mainland and attend college outside Hawaii
Resort Builder has been sued by Eco-lawyers Again and Again
CB: … At least six executives at Arete Collective, the co-developer of new residential units planned near Turtle Bay Resort, including its chief executive officer and co-founder, Rebecca Buchan, were on staff or under contract to Discovery Land Co. between 2012 and 2020.
Discovery Land Co. is not a part of the Turtle Bay project. But the private corporation has a record of aggressively pursuing luxury projects over local opposition, sometimes through litigation, during the period Buchan and her Arete colleagues were helping run the company.
(A resort developer getting sued? Unheardof!)
A Civil Beat review of more than a dozen Discovery projects shows that (shockingly) several have led to environmental lawsuits and scrutiny from oversight agencies, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (who?) and the (…uh…) Global Coral Reef Alliance (or something)….
read … Turtle Bay Developer's Execs Were Part Of A Global Company With A Questionable Environmental Record
‘Affordable’ housing rents for $83 per square foot–with no parking
SA: … A developer held a blessing Thursday for the project, which used a city affordable-housing subsidy program to help convert a seven-story office building at 1060 Bishop St. into 52 apartments ranging from studios to two-bedroom units reserved for households earning no more than 80% of Honolulu’s median income.
“This project aims to address a critical need in our community by repurposing an existing structure for much-needed housing in the heart of Honolulu and revitalize our downtown community,” Robert Kurisu, principal of 1060 Bishop Street LLC, said in a statement. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to contribute to finding solutions to Hawaii’s affordable housing crisis through this new project.” ….
Monthly rents, which include utilities, start at $1,950 for studios with 281 to 391 square feet of living space. One-bedroom units that range from 372 to 581 square feet go for $2,089 per month, and 791-square-foot units with two bedrooms go for $2,506 per month.
(DO THE MATH: $1950/281 = $6.94 psf per month x 12 = $83.27 psf just to rent it for a year.)
Parking is not included in the building, but is available nearby for a fee, according to the developer.
The income limit for tenants equates to $78,000 for a single person, $89,120 for a couple, $100,240 for a family of three, $111,360 for a family of four and $120,320 for a family of five.
Initial tenants are expected to begin occupying 1060 Bishop in October.
The former office mid-rise represents the first use of a 5-year-old city affordable-housing subsidy program to convert a commercial building into residences.
Incentives under the program, which was established by Bill 7 in 2019, include relaxed development standards, a 10-year property tax exemption and no city application fees. In 2021 an additional benefit was added in the form of up to $15,000 per unit delivered.
The development firm led by Kurisu bought 1060 Bishop for $8.15 million in 2011 from Kamehameha Schools, according to property records, and initially planned to turn the building into a hotel….
HPR: The building, located at 1060 Bishop St., was the first project to be exempted from school impact fees through Gov. Josh Green’s emergency proclamation on housing.
read … Downtown Honolulu offices become rental housing with city help
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