Back in May we called the Ala Moana Center proposed tower what it is: luxury dropped into a mall parking lot. Four months later, the project is asking for more time.
BSC Acquisitions II, the Kobayashi Group and BlackSand affiliate behind 1588 Ala Moana, requested a 90-day extension and the Council granted it last week. The project is still 294 hotel keys in a 38-story, 400-foot tower plus 205 residential units. If the Council eventually approves the permit, the developer gets five years to pull a building permit. If this does happen, it will likely be a few years down the road.
And in other news of hotels that may or may not ever happen, Nan Inc. just spent $18.5 million on more than an acre near Kalākaua and Kapiʻolani and plans a 400- to 600-unit residential and hotel tower. No timeline yet; it’s very early, and Nan doesn’t own one 6,413-square-foot parcel sitting in the middle of the site. Apparently, they’ll either buy it or build around it.
That corner also brings back a very different memory, especially coming off the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Whenever I pass it, I still think of “the General,” John H. Rogers Jr.. For years, he stood across from the Hawaiʻi Convention Center waving the American flag at morning commuters and advocating for veterans. He died after collapsing at that corner in December 2001, just three months after 9/11. I can still see him standing there, waving that flag.
Who remembers the General?
