Kapolei 'making remarkable progress'

KAPOLEI — Eight major construction projects valued at more than $165 million are planned or under way in Kapolei this year, maintaining the momentum begun more than 10 years ago when the city was born.

Halekuai Center, an office/retail complex, is under construction across Farrington Highway from Kapolei Shopping Center. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

In the past two months alone, four projects were started.

"We are making remarkable progress," said Donna Goth, director of Hawai‘i Properties for Campbell Estate. "New projects create much-needed construction jobs and hundreds of job opportunities for O‘ahu residents. Kapolei already is home to more than 100 businesses and government offices, which provide about 3,000 jobs. Over the next few years, the projects under way here will bring more than 800 additional jobs to Kapolei."

The construction projects include:

Halekuai Center, an office/retail complex across the street from the Kapolei Shopping Center. The 24,300-square-foot project will accommodate about 12 retail and office tenants and is slated for completion this spring. The complex also will include a Chevron gas station and an Extra Mile convenience store and car wash. The project's tenants are expected to create more than 100 new jobs. Halekuai Center is a development of Farrington Commercial Inc.

Chili’s Grill and Bar, at the east end of the Kapolei Shopping Center. The 5,500-square-foot restaurant will create more than 150 jobs in management, food service and kitchen service. The project is slated for completion this summer. Chili’s is a project of Pacific Meritage LLC.

Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, a 3,000-square-foot restaurant fronting the Big Kmart Store in Kapolei. The project is slated for completion this spring and will create 50 new jobs. Wendy’s is a project of Kapolei Hui I, LLC.

Phase 1 of the 43,000-square-foot Kapolei Public Library is also under way. The $6.9 million facility will be the state’s second-largest library and the 51st public library overall. The facility will be high-tech, with computers to support the library catalog and expanded access to the Internet for staff and patrons. Construction is scheduled for completion in mid-2002. Phase 2 of the library is in the planning phase. The library will create 20 new jobs.

Palama Meat Co. is nearing completion of its food processing plant at Kapolei Business Park. The 80,000-square-foot facility will be nearly three times larger than the company's current facility near the airport. The plant will process a full line of foods, including raw and cooked meats. Over the next five years, Palama expects to create about 200 jobs. The project is slated for completion this spring.

Planned projects include:

The Marketplace at Kapolei, a proposed 62,000-square-foot shopping center, slated to break ground this summer with completion in about a year. It will accommodate more than 30 small to mid-sized stores ranging from 800 to 12,000 square feet. The center will be on Farrington Highway between the Kapolei Shopping Center and AAAAA Rent-A-Space. Its tenants are expected to create hundreds of new jobs.

Mid-Pacific Broadband Inc. is slated to break ground on Phase 1 of its Network Access Point and Internet Data Center this year. The 300,000-square-foot facility will be built on 54 acres in the Kapolei Business Park. The center will enable businesses to outsource day-to-day operations of their intranet and Internet servers so they can focus on their core businesses. Mid-Pacific Broadband will offer a broad spectrum of services, from complex Web and server hosting to redundant data storage for disaster recovery. The center's first phase is expected to be up and running by early 2002.

Manor at Kapolei Green, a 60,000-square-foot assisted living facility is slated to break ground in late 2001. Across from the Kapolei Shopping Center, the building will house 82 residential units, common living and dining areas and an outdoor swimming and therapy pool. The project is expected to create more than 40 permanent jobs in management, nursing, food service, housekeeping, maintenance, transportation and recreation.

Retired postal carrier Gus Tiedemann was one of the first people to move into the area in 1962 and is proud to see the community grow.

"Kapolei is becoming the place we dreamed of so long ago," Tiedemann said. "I’m really excited about it."

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