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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, March 8, 2002

Schuler projects start soon

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

HAWAI'I KAI — In two months, another developer will begin construction on two parcels, eventually adding 147 homes to a community already experiencing a building boom.

Schuler Homes plans to start work in May on 87 townhomes by the post office on Hawai'i Kai Drive and 60 homes on the land by the farm lots in Kamilonui Valley, said Mike Jones, Schuler Homes Hawai'i president.

The developer has applied for building and grading permits, and as soon as the city issues them, the company will begin work, he said, though the developer must still do a soil study as part of an agreement with the City Council.

Already, dust screens have gone up around the Kamilonui parcel.

It seems that on almost every corner in Hawai'i Kai, construction crews are turning over the soil and planting homes. When all five projects are completed over the next couple of years, nearly 850 units will have been built.

While residents have had general complaints of traffic and congestion and density with all the new projects coming on line, one Schuler project in particular has received attention because it is near farms in the back of Kamilonui Valley.

Farmers have been concerned about emergency access. The developer has agreed to provide a dirt lane for farmers to use in the event of a flood or if access is cut off, but residents in the Kealaula Kai subdivision fear that farm trucks will be using it from morning to night.

The lane will go between the two housing developments and connect to the farms on Kamilonui Road.

"For the most part, the development will be an upgrade," said Steve Carr, a Kealaula Kai resident. But, "if the road isn't somehow blocked off, then we will see more traffic."

To assure that the dirt road would be used only in emergencies, Carr and others in the area want the road chained off, the chain secured with a lock, and the key given to area firefighters.

In this project, the developer will build 60 single-family homes on an average of 7,500-square-foot lots that will sell for $650,000 to $750,000, Jones said.

The townhouse project is part of a larger development involving three other builders who plan to erect affordable senior homes and an assisted living center. Construction will begin by the end of the year on the two- and three-story townhomes with parking garages. The units will sell for $200,000 to $300,000, Jones said.

The other projects under way in Hawai'i Kai are:

• The Peninsula, which borders Lunalilo Home Road and Wailua Street, will have 597 homes, townhomes and condominiums.
• Kai Nui on Keahole Street across from the Hawai'i Kai Shopping Center, where Schuler is finishing 37 homes.
• Kalama Ku'u in Kalama Valley, where Schuler is building 64 homes and townhomes.