The stadium portion will be a design-build-operate-maintain contract where the developer will design and build a new stadium using state and private funds. The developer will also have the right to develop a portion of the surrounding district into a mixed-use development in line with the state’s vision and to use revenue from this to help subsidize the construction of the new stadium as well as fund ongoing stadium operation and maintenance costs over the life of the operations contract.

After months of due diligence, Gov. Green found that the former two-project approach, while sensible under the previous funding paradigms, required the state to assume an undesirable amount of risk regarding ongoing funding.

“The Stadium Authority fully supports Gov. Green in his new direction for NASED,” shared Brennon Morioka, Aloha Stadium Authority chair. “We look forward to issuing the new procurement and being able to provide our community with a much-needed new stadium and a vibrant community district.”

This new approach transfers the responsibility of long-term funding and cost overruns to the private sector, reducing the risk of financial burden on local taxpayers. Effective risk allocation is a key tenet of P3 projects, which places each risk in the hands of the party best equipped to manage that risk.

In addition, design-build-operate-maintain represents the preferred model after months of analysis. The state plans to issue the new Request for Qualifications in the coming months; however, prior to this, it intends on undertaking a market sounding exercise to obtain valuable feedback from the private sector and prospective bidders to confirm and optimize the updated approach.

To facilitate this new direction, the existing procurement processes for the stadium and real estate projects have been terminated. The shortlisted proposers for each have been invited to participate in the upcoming market sounding exercise for the new approach.

Subject to the market sounding exercise, the state plans to conduct a two-stage procurement process for the new direction, commencing with a Request for Qualifications being issued in late fall 2023, a contract with the successful developer being signed in mid-2025, and the new stadium ready for the 2028 football season.

QUICK FACTS

• Governor Green and his administrative team have reached consensus on a new approach for NASED, where the new Aloha Stadium and surrounding entertainment district will be delivered via one contract.
• A new RFP process will commence later this year, after the state undertakes market sounding with the industry to refine the new approach.
• The target opening date for the new Aloha Stadium is in time for the 2028 UH football season.
• This new approach uses the current appropriation of ~$400 million and transfers the responsibility of long-term funding and cost overruns to the private sector, reducing the risk of financial burden on local taxpayers.
• The new Aloha Stadium will be designed, built, operated, and maintained by the successful developer and will have a minimum of 25,000 seats.
• The successful developer will be expected to deliver the project in line with the state’s vision of an entertainment district. This is still expected to be built out over approximately 20 years.
• The existing procurement processes for the stadium and real estate projects have been canceled. The previously shortlisted teams have been invited to participate in the new approach.
• Much of the previous work to date can be repurposed for the new approach.

Market Sounding

A market sounding webinar will be held on June 14, 2023, to allow for discussion and input from prospective bidders, the industry, and users on the new approach. More details on this event will be announced in the coming weeks.

For additional information about NASED and market sounding, please visit the project website: https://nased.hawaii.gov/

Media Videoconference Today at 10:30 a.m. (HST)

Members of the NASED team will be available to the media via videoconference today (May 25) at 10:30 a.m. (HST) to answer questions and provide clarification about the project. To receive a link to the videoconference, please contact Andrew Pereira (andrewpereira95@gmail.com or 808-754-7578).

The NASED team members who will participate on the media videoconference include:

• Brennon Morioka, Chair of the Aloha Stadium Authority
• Ryan Andrews, Manager of Aloha Stadium
• Chris Kinimaka, Public Works Administrator of the Department of Accounting & General Services (DAGS)
• Stacey Jones, Owner and Senior Principal of Crawford Architects
• David Harris, NASED Project Director and Vice President of WT Partnership
• Bridey Best, Senior Vice President of WT Partnership