Two Stories on Wednesday’s City Council Vote
To follow-up on the KHON story yesterday, the The Star-Advertiser ran a story today on the City Council vote Wednesday Aug. 17 on the Laie Hotel Redevelopment.
The City Council on Wednesday will consider plans to build a hotel on the site of the old Laie Inn that represent a skirmish over a much larger project that continues to divide Laie. The issue before the Council is whether to grant a special management area permit to allow construction of a 223-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel next to the Polynesian Cultural Center where the 49-unit Laie Inn used to sit. The inn was torn down in 2009.
In The Star-Advertiser, officials “say the hotel will create 125 jobs and reduce the need for visitors to travel back and forth to the Turtle Bay Resort and as far away as Waikiki for lodging.”
If the SMA permit is granted, building permits for the hotel can be obtained, with groundbreaking anticipated at the end of this year. The goal is to have the hotel open for the Polynesian Cultural Center’s 50th Anniversary in 2013.
The redevelopment plan is for a 222-room Courtyard by Marriott Hotel. The construction phase is expected to generate 150 jobs with $2.5 million in wages. When completed, the hotel will provide approximately 125 jobs on site.
The 48-room, aged Laie Inn was 46 years old when it was demolished in late 2009.
Group 70 is the architect for the new hotel.
“For the past year we’ve suffered along with our neighbors, packing friends and relatives into our homes when they come to visit. We all look forward to the relief of having affordable accommodations in our community again,” said R. Eric Beaver, Hawaii Reserves, Inc. president. “The replacement hotel will benefit those enjoying the Polynesian Cultural Center and visiting our community. The entire region will benefit from reinstating this important economic driver in Koolau Loa.”
It’s also important to note that a survey shows that there is support island wide for the replacement hotel; 70 percent of Oahu residents surveyed favor building the new hotel. Sentiment in the Ko‘olau Loa region is even higher at 72 percent. The survey was conducted by nationally recognized Heart+Mind Strategies in partnership with Honolulu-based Ward Research between December 8 and 17, 2010 for Envision Laie. A total of 832 Oahu residents, including 157 residents from the Koolau Loa District were polled.
The SMA “set” submitted to the City can also be downloaded on our web site.
One Comment
hastingsandpleadwell Says:
As noted in our Feb. 18 post on the issue and in our latest YouTube video, the number of total jobs — anticipated to be approximately 125 — about 50 will be open to all community applicants, with half being full-time positions. These jobs will include managerial, supervisory, and specialist positions. The remaining 75 part-time positions will be used for training those enrolled in BYU-Hawaii’s hospitality program. As the hotel is still at least two years from opening, it’s difficult to estimate what the specific salaries and wages will be. As the hotel will be operated as a Courtyard by Marriott, you can learn more about careers with Marriott on the company’s web site.
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:55 pmLeave Your Comment