Ala Moana-Kakaako

Ala Moana-Kakaʻako is one of urban Honolulu’s most active growth areas, stretching from the Kalākaua Avenue side through Ward Avenue to the waterfront and taking in Ala Moana Center, Ward Village, older commercial blocks, newer residential towers, and major public spaces. Daily life here is dense and convenient, with many residents living in condos close to shopping, restaurants, parks, bus routes, and ongoing rail and utility work.

What distinguishes Ala Moana-Kakaʻako is how much of Honolulu’s future is being negotiated here in real time. The neighborhood board regularly deals with major land-use questions around Ward Village, the proposed 1588 Ala Moana mixed-use development, rail construction through Kakaʻako, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ 29 acres in Kakaʻako Makai. OHA’s lands are especially significant because they were transferred as part of a settlement tied to unpaid public land trust revenues owed to the Native Hawaiian community, and current planning discussions include housing, public waterfront access, sea-level-rise adaptation, environmental remediation, and how to create a stronger Native Hawaiian sense of place.

The recurring concerns are real and practical: public safety, homelessness, traffic safety, construction disruption, and the pressure of rapid development. Residents and board members repeatedly raise encampments and sidewalk obstruction around Makaloa Street, Don Quijote, Keeaumoku, Ala Moana Beach Park, Kakaʻako Waterfront Park, vacant lots, and other public areas. HPD has reported increased enforcement in parks and sidewalks, including citations for park closure violations, sidewalk obstruction, sit-lie violations, tent violations, stored property, drug arrests, and warrant arrests, while also acknowledging that enforcement can displace people rather than solve the underlying homelessness and mental-health issues.