Kona luxury homes planned
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin Inc. has partnered with Canadian homebuilder Brookfield Homes to build a luxury home subdivision at Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island.
The partnership bought 30.5 acres of residential-zoned property fronting the resort's north golf course from Mauna Lani master developer Tokyu Inc. of Japan for $6.6 million, and plans to develop a mix of single-family and multi-family homes and house lots for sale at "high-end" prices.
In a related transaction, local homebuilder Stanford Carr Development acquired 25 acres of adjacent land from Tokyu for $5.6 million, and plans to build roughly 150 homes.
Construction of the A&B/Brookfield project, which is estimated to include as many as a few hundred units, is expected to begin late this year. Carr's timetable is more tentative.
The two projects are among several at the Kohala Coast resort aiming to capitalize on intense demand for second homes from mostly wealthy Mainland residents.
"The Kona Coast is exhibiting tremendous strength in the resort housing market," said Mike Wright, senior vice president of acquisitions and investments for A&B subsidiary A&B Properties Inc.
There are about 450 residential units at Mauna Lani, with about as many more planned. Honolulu-based Stanford Carr Development recently broke ground on 162 condos. Another local developer, Curtis DeWesse, recently bought 26 acres at Mauna Lani from Tokyu for $5.9 million, and plans to build 130 condos.
Other residential developers at Mauna Lani include Bill Mills and Maryl Group. Carr said he gladly took on a second project at the resort. "We just want another bite at the apple because we have a lot of confidence in that resort market," he said.
Carr is building homes on O'ahu, Maui and the Big Island, and said he plans to work with A&B and Brookfield to master-plan the new golf course community at Mauna Lani.
The A&B/Brookfield venture is the second residential project for Brookfield, which started building 270 townhomes at Ko Olina Resort & Marina on O'ahu in 2001.
For A&B, the Mauna Lani project is its 20th investment in Hawai'i real estate outside the company's core holdings in the last five years.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
