Trump... Waikiki??

[damontucker]

So I just watched the preview of the Trump hotel in waikiki....from the apprentice show.

It does look like it will dominate the skyline there.

I guess we need to start a thread somewhere on this....

I dunno.... Trump and Hawaii in the same sentence kind of sounds out of sync to me.

In the long run.... I think it's still the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer philosophy.....

Mr. Trump.... If your looking for a valet driver for about 3 hours a day on the weekends..... I'm game...

[Kilinahe]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

I can't understand why nobody is upset about this. Why are people not angry and writing letters and foaming at the mouth over this? The last thing we need on this island is a damn Trump property. We cannot afford another sky-blocking, water-wasting, electricity-sucking monument to another ego.

I'm really beginning to think people get upset about overdevelopment only when they have some little personal stake in it. The Turtle Bay thing has been in the works for twenty years and now, people are mad? "No! I can't handle the traaaaa-fiiiiic!". Funny, didn't seem to bother anybody when they were plopping down their beachside mansions. Look, I don't want the Turtle Bay thing, either, but there's a faint whiff of "I got my slice, screw you" about the whole thing.

We're facing rolling blackouts all summer and we still think we're gonna stick a development in Waipio.

I can't believe we're going to let this happen. We're going to stick another overpriced hotel in Waikiki. Displace more locals. Yeah. Great.

[MadAzza]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

I saw the "artist's rendering" at the end of the show tonight, too, and that thing is fugly!

But as far as "allowing" a building in Waikiki, or anywhere ... if the zone is designated commercial and if the builder follows all the requirements, gets the permits and so on, I don't know that there's anything anyone can (or even should) "do."

Maybe it won't be as hideous as it looked in the image I saw. What bugged me the most was the color -- it looked like a black monolith. That doesn't look good anywhere, so please try to resist the "it belongs on the mainland" comments! Folks on the mainland don't like ugly buildings any more than anyone else.

I'm certainly not against people building stuff in a commercial area, but I think they can at least try to make their buildings attractive.

JMHO, YMMV, etc.

[pzarquon]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

The Trump Tower as proposed can't be any more obnoxious looking than the Waikiki Gateway. And besides, if someone was going to build a monstrous new hotel, isn't Waikiki the only place you'd want it to be built?

Yeah, the infrastructure there is taxed beyond the breaking point. But so is, as you noted, the infrastructure for pretty much everyone else.

Specific to Trump, I do wonder why he's set his sights on Waikiki, a place that is certainly efficient in housing tourists but one that has already developed a reputation among discerning travelers as the last place you'd want to stay. I figured he'd set up shop on Maui!

On the broader "development" issue... I lament overdevelopment as much as anyone, but I also understand the need for people to have places to live and work. Much brouhaha is made about people moving here, retiring here, but lifelong Hawaii residents are doing more than their part in growing the island population, too. We say we want our kids to be able to stay, and not flee to the Mainland. Well, tall buildings and suburbs are part of that plan, whether we like it or not.

What's the solution? I don't know. Another protest, another petition, another round of political grandstanding and more than a few lawsuits. But probably the only real "endgame" is finding out, the hard way, exactly where the much lamented "breaking point" actually is.

[Kawika0320]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

Trump "Towers" as they are called are notoriously elitist and geared to the insanely wealthy. Does downtown Waikiki need this? Typically it will house residential apartments, office space (if so zoned) and just a few luxury suites for visitors. I hope that there either was public meetings regarding this or that he works closely with the style of Hawaii because a lot of his buildings are ridiculously gaudy. The good part of it is that it will pump a lot of American money into the economy. He is a great employer and rewards hard work. His persona on television is just shtick although he probably won't be very hands on. He is a businessman though and I think it's good that he chose Waikiki to invest such a large amount of money in.

[kimo55]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

no such animal as
downtown Waikiki
Waiks is small. it's all Waikiki

I hele on down that area now and then and all the signage around Lewers says:
High end
upscale.
quality
etc.
in describing what they are creating.
just as they use that shopworn phrase
revitalize.


No more budget travelers welcome. Only high end. THAT is what they judge by. their spending.
what is the cost? a sense of place. completely destroyed.

[tikiyaki]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

Unfortunately,

Trump is a cancer that is infecting all places of beauty....I have a friend who lives in Cave Creek, Arizona...
This person bought a plot there like 12 years ago for it's beauty and remoteness, now Trump is putting a tower there, in the middle of this really old west looking, charming town that has a really cowboy, old west feel.
It has become a get away from it all home for celebrities as of late, but none of the big city feel has entered the area. When my friend bought his land there it was an empty space, and the residents there have tried to keep it quaint and old worldly.
They fought Trump, but he just has too much money. I look at him and all I can think of is how I want to do 2 things...
Get him a friggin hairstylist,
and...
Punch him in his rich, fat face.

I feel for you guys living over there, because you have been Trump-free for this long. Now, that Trump "bigger, richer, better, faster, more" cancer will infect your beautiful island.

Sorry to hear this. I think there are better ways to bring economic growth to your island than having one of his friggin ego monument playgound for rich people towers there.

[LocoBoy]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

Wth, if I can get a good paying job there, heck I'll apply

[Pompey]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

So were you guys dissapointed that neither of the contestants picked Hawaii as their choice of work if they became the Apprentice? I guess it was too predictable that any apprentice would've chosen to work near the boss anyway.

I assume building a resort hotel in Hawaii was in the works for many years. So what will it be displacing?

[Miulang]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

Watch out! With The Donald making his presence known, his ex Ivana could be following closely on his heels. The Donald is building a huge high end condo development in LV, and Ivana also has her own condo development coming up (almost right across the street from the Stratosphere).

Miulang

[damontucker]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

So were you guys dissapointed that neither of the contestants picked Hawaii as their choice of work if they became the Apprentice? I guess it was too predictable that any apprentice would've chosen to work near the boss anyway.

I assume building a resort hotel in Hawaii was in the works for many years. So what will it be displacing?

a skyline...

You can visit his proposed design at...
http://www.trump.com/main.htm

Go to property portfolio...then to future developments....then to Honolulu... and bam...there it is all 38 floors! (which I don't think is the tallest in Waikiki... however the location will make it a dominant part of Hawaiis Skyline)

[Pompey]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

a skyline...

lol


...............

[pzarquon]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

A 38-story, 500-unit tower at the corner of Saratoga and Kalia roads? The Trump tower will be a significant addition to the skyline, but it'll hardly blot out the sky. The Hilton's nearby Tapa Tower is 35-stories tall and has 1,000 rooms plus significant meeting space. I'd imagine in broad dimensions, the Trump building will be comparable.

In size. In looks? Well, the drawings for the Trump building are a bit garish, but the Tapa Tower isn't pretty, either...

I wonder exactly where it'll be positioned, though. It's being called the cornerstone of the "new" Beach Walk, "adjacent" to Fort DeRussy Park. Will it replace the open parking lot mauka of the army museum, or the army museum itself? And if it will be on the shoreline, it'll most definitely affect the sight-lines at the famed Halekulani.

[kimo55]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

Will it replace the open parking lot mauka of the army museum, or the army museum itself? And if it will be on the shoreline, it'll most definitely affect the sight-lines at the famed Halekulani.

mcdonald's.

[tutusue]

Re: Trump... Waikiki??

mcdonald's.

That area definitely isn't my stomping grounds but, iirc, McD's isn't on a huge piece of land. So, is Trump going to build the Waikiki version of the Space Needle?