Japan developer sees Ala Wai harbor as wedding venue
A developer from Japan has applied to the state to add wedding chapels to the boat haul-out and fuel dock at the Ala Wai small-boat harbor in Waikiki.
Honey Bee USA was the only entity to respond to a request for proposals to redevelop the facilities and to submit a development plan to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The developer is required to retain the existing use — the boat haul-out and the fuel dock —on the two parcels of state land.
If the development agreement is approved, the developer would pay annual lease rent that starts at $545,086 for the first 10 years of the 55-year lease and rises incrementally to more than $1 million per year.
The operator would also have to pay 8 percent of gross revenues from commercial operations and 5 cents per gallon of fuel sold.
The developer also wants to lease 10,600 square feet of submerged lands next to the haul-out facility and about 11,880 square feet next to the fuel docks for mooring. The developer would pay the state rent starting at $134,880 per year or 10 percent of any mooring fees charged.
Keith Kiuchi, the local attorney for Honey Bee USA, declined to comment on the proposal. No further information was available about Honey Bee or its finances.
“We’re working on the development agreement now,” said Ed Underwood, administrator of DLNR’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation. “As soon as we have that done they can move it forward.”
Honey Bee USA plans to construct a three-story commercial building in place of the two-story building formerly occupied by Ala Wai Marine, which fronts Ala Moana Boulevard next to the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki.
The new “Boatyard Building” would have a boat-repair facility as well as stores and office space. The developer also proposes to build a separate building for a wedding chapel.
The fuel dock and convenience store, located at the end of the peninsula closest to the ocean, would be replaced by a three-story building under the developer’s proposal.
While the new “Peninsula Building” would retain the fuel dock and the convenience store, it would add a wedding chapel on the second floor, a bar on the third floor and some ocean recreation facilities on the ground floor, such as kayak and surfboard racks.
Honey Bee USA’s development plan is separate from a proposal during this year’s legislative session to lease part of the 747-slip harbor to a private developer. That bill did not advance out of committee.