Mayor of Honolulu Kirk Caldwell has announced that the City and County of Honolulu in Hawaii has canceled the procurement of Public-Private Partnership (P3) project of redevelopment of Neal S. Blaisdell Center. The center is a cultural campus located in Honolulu.

The city has abandoned US$ 772 million project after spending around US$ 17 million on the design and planning process since 2015. The feasibility study, master plan, schematic design and detailed budget for the project was already completed. Until now the city was seeking private partners through a request for qualifications and the closing of the cultural centre for renovation was planned for the end of this year. Last week the city has issued the cancelation notice to vendors "because the agency no longer can reasonably expect to fund the procurement."

The city has canceled the procurement because of unknown construction costs for the last four miles of the rail transit system to Ala Moana Center of the upcoming rail service. The city will spend funds on backlogged repairs and deferred maintenance instead of the renovation of the center.

"Given that the final construction cost is yet unknown for the last 4.16 miles of our rail system and the city’s financial responsibilities for the operations of the upcoming rail service, in addition to a new administration and City Council starting in less than one year, we decided that it is a logical time to pause the project."

The city has worked with Ernst & Young on the preparation of the P3 process. It also cooperated with the design team composed of Aecom, WCIT Architecture, Pacific AquaScapes, Snohetta architectural firm and design firm Gensler.

The project planned the redevelopment works of Neal S. Blaisdell Center. The 22.4-acre complex includes a multi-purpose arena, an exhibition hall, a concert hall, meeting rooms, and structured parking. 

The mayor said he would “urge the continuation of exploring the public-private partnership route as a means to share the financial risks and to obtain professional management of the facility.”

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