Honolulu Adopts the 1588 Ala Moana Concept Plan
The Honolulu City Council adopted a conceptual plan for the 1588 Ala Moana development on Wednesday 7 October 2026. The vote was 9-0. The measure is Resolution 26-171, CD1.
The plan covers a 400-foot hotel tower, a 200-foot residential tower and 69 affordable rental units. The site is at 1450 Ala Moana Blvd, on the southeast corner of Ala Moana Center. The applicant is BSC Acquisitions II LLC, an affiliate of the Kobayashi Group and BlackSand Capital. GGP Ala Moana LLC owns the land.
The adoption moves the project into the city’s Interim Planned Development-Transit process. It does not authorize construction.
The Buildings in the Program
The adopted program holds three structures. A 38-story hotel tower rises 400 feet and carries 294 hotel units. A 17-story residential tower rises 200 feet and carries 136 market-rate for-sale units. A five-story podium carries 69 affordable rental units as liner units, ground-floor commercial space, hotel and residential lobbies and a covered driveway.
The project area covers 187,174 square feet of the Ala Moana Center property. The center holds roughly 2.7 million square feet. The plan calls for demolition of an existing parking structure.
1,229 Parking Spaces
The measure sets 1,229 parking spaces. Residential uses take 439. The hotel takes 192. Ala Moana Center takes 598.
The resolution allows the hotel tower to reach 400 feet and the residential tower to reach 200 feet. It also allows the hotel tower to encroach up to 33 feet into the Atkinson Drive height setback.
The Permits That Follow
The resolution states that its approval of the conceptual plan does not constitute compliance with the Land Use Ordinance, building and construction codes or other governmental requirements. The applicant must next obtain a Major Special District Permit. A building permit must follow within 60 months.
A construction management plan, a traffic management plan and an update or validation of the most recent traffic impact report are required before building permits.
The Community Benefit Payments
The developer offers $5 million for Complete Streets improvements within the Ala Moana Neighborhood TOD Plan area. Those payments phase at about $1 million a year over five years from the project’s first certificate of occupancy.
The developer offers $1.5 million for street-tree implementation and urban forestry. Those payments phase at about $300,000 a year over five years.
The package also includes a new city bus stop along the project frontage or improvements to a nearby stop. The city Department of Transportation Services identifies the location. The developer would provide a Biki bikeshare station or another city-approved bikeshare station near the project.
The Affordable Units and the Local 5 Objection
The 69 affordable rental units divide into 31 units required under ROH Chapter 29 and a minimum of 38 units beyond that requirement. The 38 units would be rented to households at 80 percent of area median income or below for at least 30 years. The alternative is households at 120 percent of AMI or below for at least 60 years.
The Star-Advertiser cites state data for 2026. At 80 percent of AMI, the income limit is $123,200 a year for a family of four.
Dozens of testifiers spoke at the meeting, and many came from building and local trades unions.
UNITE HERE Local 5 opposes the project. The union represents Hawaii’s unionized hospitality, health care and food service workers. “We are in opposition to the 1588 Ala Moana project,” Ben Sadowski, a Local 5 official, told the Council. “We urge you to make the developer give more back to our community in return for the valuable entitlements and exemptions.”
Sadowski said the 38 additional affordable units fall short of what the community needs.
Jobs and the Testimony
BSC Acquisitions said earlier that the development would support 6,072 jobs over an approximately five-year construction period. The same statement puts operations at about 800 jobs a year.
Sam Kim, with the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, told the Council that 1588 Ala Moana would help create a more affordable Honolulu. Cody Sula, with the Hawaii Iron Workers Stabilization Fund, said the project would create thousands of new construction jobs.
Oahu resident Carol Ching cited concerns about the long-term effects of sea-level rise on Ala Moana Regional Park and the surrounding area.