AIEA, Hawaii — The state’s negotiations with Aloha Halawa District Partners remain on schedule — for now — amid the developer team's concerns about producing the money necessary for the venue that is to anchor the 98-acre New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District site in Halawa.
Recent goings-on at the Capitol have made for a “challenging” first month on the job for interim stadium manager Chris Sadayasu, who said at Thursday’s monthly Aloha Stadium Authority board meeting that a longstanding June target for full contract execution with AHDP remains in place.
“We're progressing the project forward,” Sadayasu told Spectrum News. “We’ve run into hiccups with respect to some of the Legislative bills.”
NASED meetings are occurring three times a week, he said, to go with frequent trips to the Capitol for testimony.
If an agreement between the state and AHDP can be reached by June, the goal is for a 10-month demolition of existing Aloha Stadium that would begin in late June or early July, followed by 24 months of construction of a new venue of at least 25,000 seats with an opening target of the fall 2028 University of Hawaii football season.
How NASED gets to a final agreement remains thorny. Stanford Carr, president of Stanford Carr Development who has been the lead voice for the AHDP consortium, said during Feb. 13 testimony in favor of a Hawaii gambling bill that his team is actively seeking help to cover what he estimates will be a price tag of over $700 million for a suitable stadium. The state’s contribution of $350 million to that end — “very much insufficient to realize a stadium of quality,” he said — leaves his group with a heavy burden to bear before factoring in up-front costs for relocation and outlying residential and commercial construction, Carr said.
That difference of more than $550 million won’t be covered by real estate revenue from the outlying district, he added.
He was asked by two Senate Committees (Economic Development and Tourism, and Commerce and Consumer Protection) what would happen if additional money from casino revenues didn’t transpire.
“We're pursuing every opportunity in order to find a solution, to realize a stadium that we deserve and that will attract other (events), including concerts,” Carr replied. “Realistically (without more money) we would be pencils down, and walk away from the project.”
Soon afterward, Senate Bill 893 was effectively killed. Sadayasu said Carr later clarified his comments “saying that they're still all in (for NASED), they're still working on it.”
Stadium Authority board member Michael Yadao spoke up on the matter remotely Thursday via a Zoom call.
“I’m concerned that (AHDP), they've said things that cause doubt and cause concern and lead to confusion both at the Legislature and in the public sphere,” Yadao said sternly, “and so I understand that they walked back some of those comments, but I do think that it's important that we as an authority make clear to both the Legislature and to everyone in the public that we are moving forward with the development and stadium.”
Sen. Glenn Wakai, a longtime stadium proponent who represents the Halawa district, expressed frustration with the progress of the project in a phone interview with Spectrum News on Thursday afternoon. He said he wants to see more transparency on deadlines and benchmarks from the Stadium Authority and more focus from AHDP.
Wakai introduced a bill that passed through the Senate Ways and Means Committee that would add future "project readiness conditions" to be set by the Legislature on how nearly $50 million in previously allocated stadium operations money would be made available for the Stadium Authority.
"We're trying to put some pressure on both parties, both the Stadium Authority as well as (AHDP), that like you guys better sharpen your pencils and start meeting deadlines and giving the public some level of confidence that a project agreement is going to be signed in the end of June," Wakai said. "So that's kind of where we stand, and why you're seeing lawmakers in the Senate just kind of stepping in because we're not happy with the pace of progress on the project."
Meanwhile, House Bill 1494, which calls for the state’s $350 million for stadium construction (plus the nearly $50 million for associated expenses) to be shifted to a permanent on-campus venue at UH Manoa, remains alive. It was presented as a backup if NASED’s Halawa plans fell through.
“What it does is forces the Plan B upon the Stadium Authority, and that's something that we oppose,” Sadayasu said.
Wakai said HB1494 was counterproductive and undermines Carr's team's ability to attract investors. He said he considered it dead on arrival in the Senate.
Sadayasu took over for former manager Ryan Andrews at the start of the month; Andrews took a job as director of student recreation services at the University of Hawaii.
Word that a wealthy donor could infuse the stadium project with cash, a possibility first mentioned by Gov. Josh Green in late January, has persisted but so far without results.
“The governor is still pursuing that, and we're excited to get some resolution, whether it's coming in or not,” Sadayasu said.
The former deputy stadium manager Sadayasu had his interim salary approved at $149,400 during Thursday’s meeting. Andrews was making $156,108. Sadayasu’s old second-in-command post will remain unfilled at the very least until the Stadium Authority restructures the head job into something closer to a district manager position likely sometime this summer, board chair Brennon Morioka said.
Note: This story has been updated with an interview from State Sen. Glenn Wakai.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
