Honolulu Council Clears 1588 Ala Moana Hotel Tower
The Honolulu City Council adopted Resolution 26-171, CD1 on Wednesday 7 October. The vote was 9-0. The measure approves a conceptual plan for the 1588 Ala Moana development at Ala Moana Center.
All nine members voted aye: Cordero, Dos Santos-Tam, Kia’aina, Nishimoto, Okimoto, Tulba, Tupola, Waters and Weyer. Acting City Clerk Chadd Kadota certified the record of action.
The plan puts a 38-story, 400-foot hotel tower with 294 units on the eastern portion of the site. A 17-story, 200-foot residential tower with 136 market-rate for-sale homes takes the western portion. A five-story podium carries 69 affordable rental units as liner units.
What the Resolution Approves
The project covers 187,174 square feet of a 2,713,046-square-foot property. Ala Moana Center sits on 11 jointly developed zoning lots. The site is at 1450 Ala Moana Boulevard and part of Tax Map Key 2-3-038:014. The land is zoned BMX-3 inside the Ala Moana Neighborhood TOD Plan area.
The plan demolishes an existing parking structure. The development carries 1,229 parking spaces: 439 for residential uses, 192 for the hotel and 598 for Ala Moana Center.
The resolution sets a maximum floor area ratio of 6.2 for the project site. A ratio up to 7.0 is allowed for additional or larger affordable rental units. Hotel uses carry a maximum ratio of 2.2.
The hotel tower may encroach up to 33 feet into the Atkinson Drive height setback. Tower separation is waived. Maximum tower width is 955.5 feet.
The Zoning Path Ahead
The vote advances the project through the city’s Interim Planned Development-Transit process. That process allows height and other modifications from existing zoning standards.
Construction stays outside this approval. The applicant must next obtain a Major Special District Permit from the Department of Planning and Permitting, then a building permit within 60 months of that permit.
Building permits follow a construction management plan, a traffic management plan and an updated traffic impact report. The construction plan covers heavy-truck routes, staging areas and peak-hour restrictions.
Any increase in the height or density of the project counts as a significant alteration. That needs a new application and a fresh Council vote.
What the Developer Pays for the Extra Height
The developer provides $5 million for Complete Streets improvements within the Ala Moana Neighborhood TOD Plan area. The money phases at about $1 million a year over five years. The clock starts with the first certificate of occupancy.
A second payment of $1.5 million covers street-tree implementation and urban forestry. That phases at about $300,000 a year over five years.
The developer also provides a new city bus stop on the project frontage or improvements to a nearby stop. The Department of Transportation Services picks the location. A Biki station or another city-approved bikeshare station goes on or near the site.
Of the 69 affordable rental units, 31 satisfy Chapter 29 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu. The remaining 38 are a community benefit tied to the height and density bonuses. Those 38 units rent at 80 percent of area median income or below for at least 30 years. The alternative is 120 percent of AMI or below for at least 60 years.
State data for 2026 puts 80 percent of AMI at $123,200 a year for a family of four.
Local 5 Calls the Affordable Share Too Small
UNITE HERE Local 5 opposed the project at the hearing. The union represents Hawaii’s unionised hospitality, health care and food service workers.
“We are in opposition to the 1588 Ala Moana project,” Local 5 official Ben Sadowski told the Council. “The 38 affordable units that they are offering on top of what they are required to build are not enough. Our communities need significantly more.”
Building trades unions backed the project. Sam Kim of the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters said it would help create “a more affordable Honolulu.” Cody Sula of the Hawaii Iron Workers Stabilization Fund said it brings thousands of construction jobs.
Oahu resident Carol Ching raised sea-level rise. She told the Council that Ala Moana Park faces inundation by 2060 and the lower level of the mall by 2100.
Vice Chair Andria Tupola praised the $5 million contribution. Council member Radiant Cordero cited local labour, hotel jobs and housing across income levels.
The developer did not testify at the hearing.
The Applicant and the Jobs
BSC Acquisitions II LLC is the applicant. The company is an affiliate of the Kobayashi Group and BlackSand Capital.
The developer has said the project supports 6,072 jobs across an approximately five-year construction period and about 800 jobs a year once fully operational.