New Aloha Stadium renderings: 'No bench seating!'

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Lawmakers saw a sneak peek of the very latest design options for the new Aloha Stadium on Wednesday, March 11.

Development partner Stanford Carr provided a look at renderings updated on Wednesday during a briefing.

Courtesy: Aloha Halawa District Partners
Courtesy: Aloha Halawa District Partners
Courtesy: Aloha Halawa District Partners
Courtesy: Aloha Halawa District Partners
Courtesy: Aloha Halawa District Partners
Courtesy: Aloha Halawa District Partners
Courtesy: Aloha Halawa District Partners
Courtesy: Aloha Halawa District Partners

The latest renderings from Stanford Carr show plans for a 31,000-seat stadium that could eventually be expanded to 40,000 seats. The new Aloha Stadium will also have club-level seating available at higher price points, but it can be enjoyed by anyone who attends the games.

“We’re trying to create an open space that is activate-able by anybody that’s there. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to get into a club lounge,” said Stanford Carr Development Aloha Stadium project manager Kaloa Robinson. “We’re creating these integrated concourses so that the concourse is not hidden in the back behind the seating, it’s right there in front.”

Local lawmakers are excited about the potential to expand seating capacity beyond 31,000 if demand warrants it.

“In addition, there’s no bench seating! I know a lot of people in this community were moaning like, ‘Oh, the Ching field experience is terrible,’ and I agree. So, we were all also thrilled that we saw no bench seating in the renderings delivered today,” said Sen. Glenn Wakai. “One surprise that was not to everyone’s liking was that Stanford said the new delivery date is August of 2029. We’re all fully expecting the delivery date to be March of 2029.”

The postponed delivery of the stadium does put a bit more pressure on the developer, as the college football season typically kicks off in late August.

“Our first and foremost priority is to get the stadium built as quickly as humanly possible, followed shortly by the amenities surrounding the rail station,” Robinson said.

The new Aloha Stadium will cost about $650 million to build. Sen. Wakai stressed that taxpayers are not footing the entire bill.

“It’s not going to be Rail 2.0. Our all-in, as I promised in 2019 when we got the money, is $350 million. Stanford and the private sector are putting up the remaining $300 million on their own.”

The full scope of the plan includes restaurants, a cultural center, and 4,500 housing units — the developer says all of that looks to be a 30-year project.