In thinking about the project, people should keep in mind the kind of development this project team envisions. We want this to be, first and foremost, a place that welcomes our local residents, a gathering place for "us." We envision a thriving, vibrant area, with people living, working, playing and shopping here — day and night.

To welcome people to the area, we will enhance access to an enlivened shoreline. We will support existing ocean activities like surfing, bodysurfing and fishing. A pedestrian bridge across the Kewalo Basin entrance will provide walkers and joggers shoreline access all the way from Kaka'ako to Ala Moana Park and Waikiki and beyond — something that doesn't currently exist.

To incorporate expressions of Hawai'i's rich multicultural heritage, we are planning a prime shoreline location for a home for hula, music and other performances. There will be restaurants and retail options such as a farmers' market; a cultural marketplace with foods and crafts from the various ethnic groups that make Hawai'i unique; and other things that people in our community enjoy.

This is intended as the place local people gather for quality-of-life experiences.

Part of the project's objective is that in addition to all this, it will serve as a catalyst for Hawai'i's biotech industry. The University of Hawai'i's new John A. Burns School of Medicine campus, next to the project area, is naturally the epicenter of such development. But it can't do the job alone.

The Kaka'ako Waterfront Project brings quality of life — including shopping, dining and housing — into direct proximity with the medical school and the future biotech businesses around it, including biotech facilities planned on Kamehameha Schools lands.

Case after case shows that homes, stores and entertainment are essential to creating a vibrant community where the biotech industry will thrive. The integration of housing with retail and entertainment options is essential for the area to come alive and attract the people who are the heart of the industry.

Some of these will be local, others will come from elsewhere. These people can work pretty much anywhere. They are looking for lifestyle as well as office and lab space.

Naturally, there has been a good deal of discussion about the project since the developer was chosen. Suggestions have been made and concerns voiced — and that's good. All of us on the project team believe that community input is needed before the final plans are shaped.

In just these past six weeks, the development team has been working hard to meet with and listen to the community, and more meetings and listening will take place.

To facilitate community input, A&B has launched an interactive Web site at www .kakaakowaterfront.org and established an information hot line at 596-4645.

Balance, transformation and legacy. Those were the touchstones of the vision for the Kaka'ako Waterfront Project. We sought a community in balance — with its surroundings, its host culture — and in balance internally, with the residential component in balance with the public amenities offered. We sought to transform a currently inaccessible and inhospitable area into a place that invites the local residents to gather.

We are determined to fulfill the promise of Kaka'ako.