The first phase of Hawai'i Pacific University's $100 million Hawai'i Loa campus expansion — including eight new dormitory buildings and a student center — could occur within the next year, said HPU President Chatt G. Wright.

Wright has long talked about the future expansion of HPU's Windward campus, but major obstacles have stood in the way, including a decadeslong moratorium on connecting to the city's sewer system. But after a six-year approval process and $4 million in construction work, HPU now has the infrastructure necessary to build up its flagship campus.

"Hawai'i Pacific University is moving to a new stage in its history," Wright said. "The plan recognizes one of our most acute needs, and that is a need for more student housing. We own that campus, there is no indebtedness on it. It's a beautiful location and it's just logical that it become the main center of Hawai'i Pacific University."

The state's largest private university recently unveiled its master plan for its "windward Hawai'i Loa campus," developed by architectural firm Group 70 International Inc. The project, which is likely to be done in phases, will quadruple the existing number of on-campus student housing spaces, and also includes plans for a new academic center, a performing arts center, athletic facilities and a new academic building.

Only about 65 acres of the 135-acre Windward campus are currently in use now. The campus currently has six residence halls and a three-story academic building — which includes lecture halls, a library, a theater and science labs.

While Wright says he envisions Hawai'i Loa as a flagship campus — HPU's main hub for performing arts, athletics, scholarly research, and teaching — the school will still have a prominent presence in its current spaces in Downtown Honolulu. HPU is the third-largest tenant of the Downtown area, after Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian Bank.

"No, we're not announcing that we're leaving the Downtown area. Downtown will always remain important to HPU," Wright said.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

Hawai'i Loa's hilly terrain and water-flow issues — it's common for water to pond in areas where parking and new buildings are envisioned — are the immediate challenges faced by architects in planning for the campus expansion.

The school also will have to seek to rezone some undeveloped portions of the campus, which are currently designated for conservation. Even after the expansion, Wright said a "great deal" of the land HPU owns will remain undeveloped.

"What we'll be building there will be environmentally friendly — 'green' — it'll be aesthetically Hawaiian by incorporating the natural environment. We're not going to be building something that's just a bunch of concrete," he said.

Wright said the current fiscal year, and about $800,000, is being devoted to architectural planning.

"Group 70 and Francis Oda will be making out applications to all the various governmental agencies for these planning efforts," he said.

Once the project has been given the green light, which could happen within a year, Wright said student housing and a new student center would likely be the first portion of the project built.

"Our most critical need is student housing. That project could logically be phase one, and we would probably start that after we have the appropriate approval from government agencies and our own board," he said.

ACADEMIC CENTER

The new dormitories and student center will be west of the current academic center. Within the next five years, Wright expects the rest of the expansion will be under way. The centerpiece of the expanded campus will be a new three-story academic center, which will be built in front of the existing Cooke Academic Center.

Just above the existing soccer field, the Paul and Vi Loo Performing Arts Center and an athletics center will be built.

Architects are planning to use various "sustainable" elements in the campus construction, including solar water heaters, green roofs and green walls to reduce the need for air conditioning, rainwater recycling, and reduction of stormwater runoff through bioswales.

The university also is ramping up its fundraising efforts in hopes that large gifts will help pay for the bulk of the expansion. Wright said it's likely that the university will use a portion of its endowment, or private bonds, to pay for some of the construction work.

The university is working with Marts & Lundy, the same fundraising firm used by 'Iolani School and Punahou School.

"This doesn't mean we've just been waiting. We've identified people in this community and elsewhere who have indicated they are willing to make significant gifts to us. We've been doing a lot of work," Wright said.