Rail May Not Make It To Ala Moana, But Developers Have Already Cashed In Landowners got lucrative zoning perks and fast-track approvals to build luxury towers in the busy neighborhood all based on rail. Did they give enough back in return?
After a decade of cost overruns and mismanagement, the prospect that Honolulu’s future rail transit line might reach Ala Moana as planned is now seriously in doubt.
But whether rail ever gets there, area developers and landowners are sure to reap the benefits. Several already have.
Since 2016, city leaders have granted special fast-track permits to a handful of major developers to help build denser, more walkable communities, assuming that Ala Moana Center would soon host a busy rail station with some 17,300 passenger boardings a day. Those Interim Planned Development-Transit permits, or “IPD-T,” allowed developers to build higher and denser.
