Design Team Selected To Construct Kapolei Mixed-use Center
Real estate development company Hawaii DeBartolo LLC recently announced that it has chosen a design team, consisting of two architectural firms and an engineering company, to construct a regional shopping center in Kapolei.
The Ka Makana Ali’i Regional Center will be a 1.4-million-square-foot, urban mixed-use center.
Hawaii DeBartolo selected Architects Hawaii and San Diego-based Tucker Sadler Architects as the two architectural firms to work on the development, along with engineering company Belt Collins Hawaii.
The development is the first new regional shopping center in the state in more than 40 years.
Erin Nellis, development officer for DeBartolo, said that Ka Makana Ali’i is its contribution to bringing entertainment, shopping, dining and other services to the table.
“We’re very happy with Architects Hawaii bringing the local vision, and for Tucker Sadler Architects with their vision of many mixed-use products across the world. Belt Collins Hawaii has great relationships in the community that will help with this process,” Nellis explained. “Putting together something of this size is a very collaborative effort, and bringing all those perspectives in making the project better.”
David Miller, chairman and principal of Architects Hawaii, agrees. “We’re developing what is already a very exciting concept and looking at how we can make it the best it can be, detail-wise,” he said.
The initial phase of the shopping center will be located at Kapolei Parkway and Kualakai Parkway and is expected to break ground in the latter part of this year. The center’s opening is slated for 2014.
Miller said the team has envisioned a design that will create a fresher, more contemporary feel that expresses Hawaiian design elements. Ka Makana Ali’i will make use of landscaping and outdoor spaces to create something that belongs in Hawaii, and has a fresh and stylish feel.
Ka Makana Ali’i Regional Center will have two phases that will be completed over the next four years and will cost more than $350 million. The project will generate about 21,000 construction jobs, as well as more than 6,500 jobs from the businesses that will be located in the center.
Upon its completion, Ka Makana Ali’i Regional Center will be the third largest shopping center in the state, after Ala Moana Center and Pearlridge Center. It will feature a neighborhood commercial center and also will include a specialty market, a drug store and local retail shops and services.
There also will be major department stores, a family entertainment complex, a cinema, restaurants, a fitness center, two hotels catering to kama’aina and more.
According to Miller, 50 percent of the parking is planned to be underground, which will allow for minimal walking distance for shoppers.
“This project has tremendous opportunity to enrich the quality of life in general for folks from all over West Oahu,” Miller explained.
