Hawaii Pacific University has completed a draft environmental assessment for its plan to redevelop the Aloha Tower Marketplace into a mixed-use building with dormitories and commercial spaces, Pacific Business News reports.

The approval from the state Office of Environmental Quality Control means that the university is one step closer to making its controversial $30 million project a reality.

HPU hopes to convert many parts of the existing building and Pier 10 — about three-fourths of the marketplace’s total square footage — into a student village that incorporates both academic facilities and retail and restaurant spots open to the public. The second floor is slated for renovation into 83 HPU dorms.

HPU has already told 17 Aloha Tower tenants to leave by mid-March in anticipation of the renovations to the roughly 165,000-square-foot complex. Only four tenants — including Gordon Biersch Brewery and Hooters — are allowed to stay. 

The project has its critics, including businesspeople who say plans have been botched from the get-go. Some even claim the state illegally granted HPU possession of the waterfront property, saying HPU was never qualified as a developer and that the final product won’t end up generating much state revenue. 

It was just last January that the Aloha Tower Development Corporation deemed HPU sole owner and manager of the marketplace, more than a year after the university dished out $14 million to manage the facilities. The settlement followed an intense, long-drawn-out battle between HPU and its former partner on the project, developer Ed Bushor. 

Construction is expected to start within the next few months and continue through 2015.

Read past coverage of the project:

HPU Moving Forward With Aloha Tower Expansion

HPU Selects Architect for Aloha Tower Dorms

HPU Redevelopment Efforts Prompt Aloha Tower Fireworks Cancellation

Photo: Aloha Tower Marketplace entrance, pre-renovation (Courtesy of daryl_mitchellvia Flickr)

— Alia Wong