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Two years after opposition from a village planning council slowed progress and prompted a redesign, plans for the $400 million Honhui Tumon Bay Hotel received approval from the Guam Hybrid Land Use Commission. Members of the hybrid land use commission on Thursday voted to approve a tentative development plan and a series of variances for the planned 824-room hotel. With GHLUC approval, developers previously said they hope to secure necessary permits by next year, with site improvements to follow and building construction by 2027. Commission approval comes about a month after the Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon Municipal Planning Council voted to support the hotel. The same council opposed the plans back in 2023, but members changed their tune after developer Honhui Guam LLC scaled back plans and made a number of accommodations for its neighbors in Tumon. Development consultant Dan Swavely told land use commissioners on Thursday that Honhui believes in Guam’s ability to make a tourism comeback. “This is a client that is in the tourist destination business,” Swavely said. “And they see Guam’s potential, and they want to be part of that.” ‘Biggest, most expensive’ Redesigns brought the Honhui back from a record 37 stories to a pair of 31- and 32-story towers. But Swavely boasted that it’s still on track to be “for sure the biggest, most expensive resort project ever proposed for Tumon Bay.” Honhui Guam plans to build across the street from the Blessed Diego de San Vitores Church in Tumon, on the site of what used to be the Royal Palm Hotel. Zone variances approved Thursday will allow the hotel to build higher, with more rooms, and closer to its neighbors than Guam zoning laws allow in “H” or resort-hotel zones. According to Swavely, zoning restrictions would otherwise limit the hotel to a 14-story, 276-guest room facility. It would also require the hotel itself to have at least 208.5 feet between the building and the edge of its property line. Honhui’s designs call for a 75-foot setback. Swavely told commissioners that just about every hotel now standing along Tumon Bay needed zoning variances to get built. Honhui has agreed to purchase satellite parking outside of Tumon and bus workers in, in order to alleviate concerns about traffic from its neighbors, he said. Upgrades to utilities It’s agreed to pay 110% of the cost of upgrading the Guam Waterworks Authority’s Fujita pump station to accommodate new sewer strain, and 110% of GWA’s cost to increase the reservoir supply in Tumon to accommodate the 325,000 gallons per day the hotel will need at full occupancy, according to Swavely. Honhui will install underground lines and build its own power substation on the 7.25-acre property. Swavely said the accommodations are “unprecedented” for a hotel developer in Tumon, and hopefully the start of a new trend. He said the developer is also willing to work with the concerned owners of the nearby Cushing Zoo, who are worried that noise and vibrations from construction will disturb the zooo animals. The 824-room Honhui hotel will come with a CHamoru-themed waterpark, food and beverage areas able to accommodate 1,000 seats, 75,000 square feet of office and conference space, and a spa and gym, according to a report from Department of Land Management planning staff. At 7.25 acres large, the site is also “unusually large” compared to the average Tumon Bay hotel property, DLM’s report stated. DLM’s analysis found that the proposed development was consistent with “H” or hotel zone rules and regulations. Hybrid land use commissioners voted without opposition to approve the tentative development plan and zone variances. Purchase history The Honhui site used to be the home of the Royal Palm Hotel, which crumbled after a massive earthquake, registering 8.2 on the Richter scale, that hit Guam on Aug. 8, 1993. The $70 million hotel collapsed just 18 days after opening, which was deemed a hazard to the public and was demolished. Pacific Daily News files show Honhui Guam, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based investor Hongwell Group Taipei, purchased the property in 2020. A pink parking garage structure that remained on the site after the Royal Palm’s demolition remained an illegal dump and homeless encampment in Tumon for years. Demolition of the garage started in September 2022.
