Aloha Stadium replacement update

[HawaiiMongoose]

Though progress is slow, work is continuing on the project to replace Aloha Stadium.

Here are some excerpts from an update published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser earlier this week (I'd provide a link but the article is behind a paywall):

The state and its group of preferred private contractors for the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District [Aloha Halawa District Partners] remain on schedule to open a new multi-use stadium in Halawa with capacity for 25,000 in time for the start of the 2028 football season, leaders of the public-private partnership project said Monday.

...

They also said a Preliminary Development Agreement signed March 31st is a significant step. It leads toward finalizing a contract ahead of the self-imposed June 30th deadline that would give AHDP the job of developing, building, operating and maintaining the stadium, and master developer status for the entire 98 acres of NASED.

...

“(The PDA) really helps us,” interim Aloha Stadium manager Chris Sadayasu said. “Although we are still in negotiations, it’s a tool to get us to the final document. It helps show that we’re still on track.”

It also means AHDP gets paid. The consortium will be compensated by the state for prep work done before the final contract is signed — or even if it is not, but that seems unlikely now.

The PDA allows the private partner consortium to move forward in various areas, including biohazard testing and attaining required licenses and permits, and AHDP agrees to follow specified guidelines while doing so. The agreement makes it more likely for the new stadium to be built on time and on budget.

“We are working on demolition drawings [for the old stadium], anticipating that will start in August,” AHDP lead developer Stanford Carr said.

Although demolition is expected to take up to 10 months, demolishing and building is not a linear process.

“We’ll have equity on designing the new stadium, as well as phase one of the real estate, including apartments, condos,” Carr said. “We’ve got multiple things going on at the same time.

“Also, this allows us to do a structural inspection of the north end zone to determine if we can use some of the existing material there,” he added. “There’s a potential for $90 million in savings if concrete structures there are still usable.”

That could mean significant savings in destruction and construction time.

...

[With the current funding allotment of $350 million in state bonds] it could be that just the basic stadium is built first. But the design would allow for expansion to eventually include all the bells and whistles as part of a future phase of the NASED project, Carr said.

“With the 350 million in his pocket, we can probably get something a little less than Snapdragon (Stadium in San Diego), but functional,” said State Sen. Glenn Wakai, who represents the communities surrounding the stadium and has been a consistent force pushing the NASED concept from its inception.

[Bison]

Demolition would take 10 months?  I guess Hawaii operates on a different time standard than the rest of the country LOL.

[SDSUfan]

Hawaii makes California look like a model of efficiency.

[HawaiiMongoose]

Yep, not only does everything cost more here, it takes longer to get anything done too.  That’s especially true of public sector projects, where there are usually too many cooks in the kitchen to start with, and the unions make sure that both the size and duration of the labor investment to complete any job is maximized.  Despite having grown up with the inefficiency and having dealt with it for most of my professional life, it still drives me nuts.

[Brew_Poke]

On 4/11/2025 at 11:23 AM, HawaiiMongoose said:

We are working on demolition drawings [for the old stadium], anticipating that will start in August,” AHDP lead developer Stanford Carr said.

JFC, looking at demolition drawings years after the stadium has been vacated. 🤡

[TheTedfordTrain]

We’re going to get GTA6 before the new Aloha Stadium