Kaua'i developer cuts size of project
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
KUKUI'ULA, Kaua'i — Alexander & Baldwin's 1,000-acre resort-residential development on Kaua'i has a new developer, a new time frame and dramatically reduced density.
As part of a joint venture with DMB, an Arizona-based, privately held real estate development firm, A&B will provide the land and $40 million in improvements already spent, and DMB will provide the estimated $400 million it will take to build the project in the next 12 years.
The firms have formed a limited liability company in which each is a 50 percent partner. Michael Roberts, DMB vice president, will move from company headquarters in Scottsdale to Kaua'i to represent the firm.
He will work closely with A&B Properties vice president Tom Shigemoto, a former county planning director.
Roberts said his firm believed the initial proposal for 3,900 units in the project made it too dense, and plans to cut that to 1,500 units of single-family residential, multi-family residential, hotel and timeshare development.
A proposed 200-room hotel would be cut to a 60-unit high-end boutique hotel, and timeshare units would be reduced from 500 to 100 units.
The housing units would be a mix of pre-built units and for-sale lots. An 18-hole golf course, a part of the original plan, has been redesigned by Tom Weiskopf, and will cover roughly 250 acres. Roberts said the company has not decided what to do with a small neighborhood commercial area along Lawa'i Road. The new design does not revive a small harbor that was included in an early version of A&B's plan.
Roberts said that the new design and density scheme will mean units will sell at higher prices than originally envisioned, but said the property, almost all of which has ocean views, demands it.
"This is a wonderful piece of property, and it probably needs a lower-density regime and justifies higher price points," Roberts said.
Existing requirements for schools, protection of archaeological and wildlife zones, and an eastern Koloa bypass road would be preserved, Shigemoto said. The project would have an integrated hiking and biking trail system throughout. The development proposes to place a public beach park with grassy areas and additional parking alongside Kukui'ula Small Boat Harbor, and might also propose a restaurant on the site.
Company representatives have been meeting with individuals and community groups to lay out the new proposals. Shigemoto said the changes require both state Land Use Commission and county zoning approvals, which he said should take about two years.
Roberts said the developer estimates it will take 10 years after zoning approvals to develop the entire property.
