The University of Hawaii at Hilo hopes to boost interest in plans for its University Village after a request for offers from developers attracted only one applicant.
UH-Hilo solicited offers about six months ago from real estate developers seeking to lease university-owned land to build a mixed-use commercial center that might include a movie theater, restaurants, retail shops, and more.
The center would serve both UH students and the general public. The project represents Phase II of UH-Hilo’s University Village. Phase I consists of the $32.5 million Hale Alahonua student housing building, which opened in the summer of 2013.
Located across West Kawaili Street from the UH-Hilo campus entrance, the 28.6-acre plot up for lease sits adjacent to the new student housing building, which provides 300 apartment-style units and accompanying common areas within its 105,000-square-foot area.
UH-Hilo Director of University Relations Jerry Chang said he couldn’t identify the sole real estate developer that responded to UH-Hilo’s call for offers. However, he did say that going ahead with the project with only one applicant “wasn’t feasible.”
The developer that responded was primarily focused on residential developments, he added, but the project is more geared toward commercial developers.
UH-Hilo has opted to put up a pair of signs near the campus advertising the plans for University Village before issuing a second call for offers in the near future. No set date for that has yet been determined, he said.
“We’re trying to create interest by the developers,” Chang said.
To date, however, those efforts have been largely unsuccessful.
“So far, we’ve just had inquiries. They’re asking questions, and they meet with us … And then they never return,” he said.
In March 2011, Colliers Monroe Friedlander Consulting prepared a 58-page retail demand study in relation to the areas of Hilo surrounding the campus.
“Based on the current long-range development plans, a sizable number of new student housing units are planned for the area accessible from Kawili Street. The new Freshman Village, Intramural Sports Center, and the mixed-use student housing site on the western side of Kawili Street will generate healthy pedestrian traffic appropriate for supporting a healthy commercial development,” the report reads.
Providing shopping opportunities for students would go a long way toward helping keep them on campus, Chang said.
With the availability of student housing on campus now standing at about 920 beds, UH-Hilo hopes to soon implement a mandatory on-campus housing policy for all freshman students.
UH-Hilo Chancellor Donald Straney has long espoused the benefits of such a move, arguing that student success rates have been shown to improve significantly when students remain on their college campuses.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaii
tribune-herald.com.
