Maui group seeks Kapalua Resort expansion
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
KAPALUA, Maui — The Kapalua Resort would expand into the pineapple-covered slopes above the luxury West Maui destination under a plan to develop nearly 700 homes on more than 900 acres.
Kapalua Mauka would be built around one of the resort's three championship golf courses, The Village Course, which would be expanded from 18 holes to 27 holes and be given another clubhouse.
Although the resort is zoned for an additional hotel, there are no plans to add one, said Bob McNatt, vice president of Maui Land & Pineapple Co., the parent company of the Kapalua Land Co.
"We've decided not to pursue it at this point,'' McNatt said. "The sites don't lend themselves to a hotel.''
What they do lend themselves to is large-lot rural development with excellent views, McNatt said. The company originally planned to build 750 homes on 450 acres but decided to reduce the density to 690 units on 925 acres to make a rural transition area from nearby agricultural and open space areas.
The plan, according to documents filed with the Maui Planning Department, estimates a population of 928, of whom 320 would be full-time residents. The build-out period is expected to last up to 20 years.
As part of the project, Kapalua is pursuing a 230-acre land swap with the state. Some of the land will be used to develop a 35-acre park.
Pineapple cultivation north of Napili is expected to end, McNatt said.
Maui Pineapple has acquired some new land for cultivation south of the Kapalua-West Maui Airport and is looking for land in Central Maui, he said.
The company would rather expand pineapple operations in Central Maui, where its cannery is located, to reduce costs associated with trucking the harvested fruit over many miles, he explained.
Kapalua Resort, which is preparing formal environmental documents for the project, consists of 1,650 acres, two hotels — the 500-room Ritz-Carlton Kapalua and the 200-room Kapalua Bay Hotel — 565 luxury condominiums and 190 single-family lots.
To proceed with the Kapalua Mauka plan, the company will need government approvals and will face public hearings.
