Update on Honolulu Advertiser Building: Public Hearing Scheduled for October 2

Please join Historic Hawai‘i Foundation in OPPOSING the demolition of the historic 1929 News Building by submitting written comments to HCDA by October 1 and attending the public hearing on October 2. 

Email outreach@historichawaii.org for sample testimony that can be personalized.  Additional information about the proposed development and the historic significance of the News Building is available at www.historichawaii.org.  

PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR NETWORKS.

The Advertiser Building at 605 Kapiolani Blvd. reflected the neo-Renaissance style that was popular at the time of its opening in 1929, when this photo was taken. (Photo courtesy of Pacific Business News)

The historic Honolulu Advertiser Building (also known as the News Building) would be severed and a 10-story (107-foot high) parking garage built on its footprint, in addition to an adjacent 46-story (400-foot high) residential tower, if a developer’s scheme is approved by a state agency.  The tower and garage would join the already-permitted 46-story tower and 11-story garage that are being built on the site.

Hawai‘i Community Development Authority (HCDA) has scheduled two public hearings on the project. The project presentation will be held on October 2, with decision-making scheduled for December 4.  Both meetings will be held at 9 a.m. in the HCDA  office, 461 Cooke Street, Makai Room.

Written testimony may be submitted through the HCDA website at www.hcdaweb.org up to 4:30 p.m. the day before the public hearing dates.  Verbal testimony may be presented at the meetings.

HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE:  The News Building meets the criteria for designation on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places as a rare surviving example of the Beaux-Arts Revival architecture in Hawai‘i; as the work of master architects Emory & Webb; for association with historic events; and for association with historic persons.  This exquisite building provides a link to the past through a gracious, human-scaled structure that anchors Kapi‘olani Boulevard and provides a gateway between the Civic Center and Kaka‘ako.

TELL THE HCDA:  Please let HCDA know that the proposed development violates standards for historic preservation, is inconsistent with the Kaka‘ako Mauka Area Plan that calls for preservation of historically and culturally significant sites, and seeks substantial waivers from development standards that are designed to protect and promote a human-scaled, walkable, environmentally-sustainable and community-supportive neighborhood.

HCDA should deny the development application; deny the requests for modification to the provisions of the Mauka Area Rules; and require any future development proposals on this historically-significant site to protect and benefit the historic building.

Thank you for your assistance in supporting the preservation of Hawaii’s historically and culturally significant places.

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