Honolulu business and political leaders are pushing to create a new special downtown business improvement district, similar to the one governing Waikīkī, to add more safety, sanitation and security to a once thriving neighborhood that has never fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The idea is in its infancy, and it’s far from clear whether it can gain the support from a majority of property owners needed to pass a city ordinance establishing the district. But the initiative has the backing of Tradewind Group, the parent of Island Insurance, and its influential founder, Colbert Matsumoto.
Tradewind is launching the idea at a breakfast today co-sponsored by Hawaii Business Magazine. Panelists include Honolulu City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam; Trevor Abarzua, executive director of the Waikīkī Improvement District and Christine Camp, chief executive of Avalon Group, who wants to redevelop underused office buildings into condominiums.
Downtown is seeing new signs of life, thanks to investors like Camp, Dos Santos-Tam said. He hopes to harness that into a coherent push…