Honolulu’s City Council has yanked a $34 million budget line that would have let the city buy a six‑acre parcel in Hawaii Kai, the former Japan‑America Institute of Management Science site, after Council Chair Tommy Waters pulled the request at the last minute. Waters said the timing and the island’s tight finances made the purchase a no‑go this year, and he plans to take another run at it in next year’s budget. For nearby businesses and residents, the move keeps the property’s future wide open and raises fresh questions about what kind of development, if any, might land there.
How the buy got into the budget
The $34 million showed up in late March as a proposed amendment to the executive capital budget, listed as an acquisition for the JAIMS parcel (TMK: 3‑9‑038:002). A March 27 worksheet folded the amount into Housing and Land Management’s land‑acquisition line, effectively creating a path for the city to purchase the site if the money was ultimately…..