Last week, the Howard Hughes Corp. broke ground on the Central Plaza at Ward Village. It will be a beautiful green space in the middle of the towers where residents and non-residents alike can enjoy outdoor movies, live music, yoga classes and more. Janis Magin writes in Pacific Business News, “The first phase of the plaza is being built with grass and native landscaping on a 1.5-acre space next to the Ward Entertainment Center that until recently was home to warehouse buildings…The park space, which was one of the requirements set by the Hawaii Community Development Authority as a condition for its development permits, is scheduled to open in January 2019. The developer did not disclose the cost of the project.” We believe this plaza and the park that they’re creating is a game changer for Ward Village. It will attract so many people to the area; both as a place to live and a place for recreation or retail. It’s also great to see that the plaza will be finished before all the towers are completed. It shows that the company is focusing on the community, the neighborhood, and its residents before thinking about themselves.
Besides the groundbreaking, Howard Hughes has generously donated $100,000 to a new fund administered by the Hawaii Community Foundation. This money will go to residents of the Big Island who have been displaced by the eruption of the volcano as well as residents of Kauai struggling from the floods in April. It’s so nice to see a company of this size give back to its own community. Besides just giving money, they’re creating a space for the residents and visitors of Oahu to enjoy. We can’t wait to see their progress on this project!