The sounds of a busy construction site echoed along University Avenue July 29 as crews continued their work on the Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs, or RISE.
The $70 million, six-story, 374-bed live-learn-work facility — constructed under a public-private partnership between the university; the UH Foundation, which owns the property; and Hunt Cos. — will integrate an innovation and entrepreneurship center with student housing.
UH officials said in a recent announcement that RISE will be a "collaborative learning environment where students of all disciplines can explore their passions, solve complex problems, build prototypes, test their ideas and access resources."
The project will encompass approximately 114,000 net square feet on one acre of land, and will include nearly 70,000 square feet for student housing and residential common areas, 30,000 square feet for an innovation and entrepreneurial center, 12,000 square feet of project service area and 2,000 square feet of retail space.
Located across University Avenue from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, on the site of the former Atherton YMCA, the innovation and entrepreneurship center and student housing facility is between 25% and 30% complete, project officials told Pacific Business News.
"Construction of the RISE project is proceeding on time and on budget, thanks to our strong UH partners, the expert management of our P3 partner Hunt Cos. and the efficient work of our general contractor, Moss," Tim Dolan, CEO of the UH Foundation and UH vice president of advancement said.
"We’re grateful for their work and we’re grateful for the donors who’ve contributed more than $3.7 million to date to RISE to ensure its success. It’s exciting to see this amazing facility take shape and we can’t wait to see the innovative projects that entrepreneurial UH students will create within it."
Mike Lam, senior vice president of development for Hunt said work on the project "is going and it's great."
Demolition of the Mary Atherton Richards House began in September 2021, followed by the internal demolition of the historic Charles Atherton House, which will include office, classroom and retail space. Concrete work on the project should wrap up around October.
Lam said the topping off of the building is scheduled for February, with hopes of delivering the building in summer 2023.
It was announced in late July that the first students will move into RISE beginning in fall 2023.
"We're extremely, extremely fortunate to be in this group with the [UH] Foundation as our partners, with Moss as a contractor, to really do something like this with the university," Lam said.
"I think it hits on a lot of topics that are very much at the top of everyone's agenda right now — housing, how do we jumpstart the economy, how do we make use of underutilized land," he continued. "This used to be the old Y, it had less than 100 beds, and now we're putting 374 beds on the project. We worked hand-in-hand with the neighborhood partners and the community members, like Manoa Neighborhood Board, Malama Manoa, The Outdoor Circle, Trees for Honolulu's Future, just really engaging with them for a long time. It's been [three] years since we started and we're not done yet."
How have supply chain issues and inflation affected the project?
Chris Chantavong, project manager for Moss, said they've seen cost fluctuations "here and there. Right now, the market's very volatile just with everything going on," including Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine.
"So all those little impacts, but we were able to get our team a heads up from our manufacturers as early as we can so we can mitigate those as best as we can," he said. "So we have not been impacted so far. We're able to work around them."
Cost increases also have been managed "fairly well," Chantavong said.
"Overall, it's just a matter of getting ahead of those things," he said, and that includes "Constant communication all the way back to suppliers."
The longest lead time they've faced was nearly a year out for an electrical switch board, Chantavong said, adding that the contractors had to "get ahead of that early" to get what they needed.
Lam said he's pleased with the progress of the project so far.
"It's very rewarding to see it be where it is right now," he said. "We've got deadlines that we have to hit and we definitely want to hit that fall leasing deadline," he said.
"We're currently on track to hit the milestones we're targeting for February 2023," Chantavong added. "And overall, in general, the vibe around the project, the workers and everyone that's related to the project is very excited for this long-awaited project to move forward."
