Maui developer plans affordable community

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Kapalua Land Co. is seeking to build more than 450 homes for low- to moderate-income residents in West Maui. The community would complement a more upscale expansion of Kapalua Resort. www.pulelehua.com

Company subsidiary Kapalua Land Co. recently notified the state that it is preparing an environmental impact statement for a master-planned community of 895 homes, an elementary school, community gardens, parks and walking trails on 312 acres of former West Maui pineapple fields surrounding Kapalua Airport.

The project, called Pulelehua, is designed in part to satisfy anticipated county requirements for Kapalua Land to provide affordable housing in relation to its proposed expansion of Kapalua Resort.

Kapalua Land plans to add 690 homes on 900 acres around one of the resort's three golf courses, the Village Course, under a plan announced three years ago called Kapalua Mauka, which also could expand the Village Course by nine holes.

Pulelehua and Kapalua Mauka would be the two biggest real estate development projects in the history of Maui Land & Pine, which alone or with partners developed the Kapalua Bay Hotel, Ritz-Carlton Kapalua and roughly 700 residential units at the resort.

The affordable housing component of Pulelehua would provide housing for some of the company's roughly 1,400 workers, and ease needs of residents in one of the costliest home markets in the state.

"It's a major concern with home prices going over $600,000 now on the west side (of the island)," said Bob McNatt, senior vice president of Kapalua Land. "We want to take care of our employees and take care of the West Maui community."

Pulelehua was designed with the help of Florida-based town-planning firm Dover Kohl & Partners and Maui community members who participated in public design sessions in March.

The vision is to create a modern community reminiscent of small towns 50 years ago where children walked to school and parents walked to church or the corner store.

McNatt said the elementary school will be in the center of the community. Residential units would be a mix of single-family and multifamily homes for sale and for rent, with some units placed above commercial shops. There would be no shopping or commercial center, with business uses limited to neighborhood services like cafÚs, bakeries, bike shops and mom-and-pop grocery stores.

Other possible elements include churches, a preschool and wellness center. Buildings and pedestrian-friendly streets would take up about half the 312 acres.

"Up until the early '50s, this is how towns evolved," McNatt said. "This is not the walled community where everyone has to drive to go to the store. We're trying to change that with this model."

Of the 895 homes, at least 51 percent, or 456, will be for residents who make between 50 percent and 120 percent of the median family income on Maui. Prices would be set by a government formula based on income and interest rates. At least 125 units would be reserved for affordable rentals.

The land for Pulelehua would need to be reclassified from agricultural to urban use by the state Land Use Commission, and obtain a similar change in zoning by the county council.

McNatt said Kapalua Land hopes to submit the zoning request in October in order to hold hearings and receive a decision by February before the Land Use Commission renders its ruling.

If land-use approvals can be obtained by March, construction could begin in early 2006, with the first homes delivered later that year. Completion of the community is projected to take five to six years, McNatt said.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.