Officials of the newly created Kapolei Chamber estimated the four projects will bring 2,250 new jobs to the region.

The Crossroads project is being put together by Crocodile Partners, which owns the Chun Wah Kam Chinese food brand, and Lettuce Expand LLC, owned by the Ai family that also operate's City Mill hardware stores.

Carol Ai May, a partner in the venture, said the Kapolei location was chosen is because "it's just growing like crazy." A soft opening is planned for Nov. 1, with a grand opening tentatively set for Nov. 15, May said.

Besides Chun Wah Kam, Teddy's and Simply Organized, there is room for about 10 other retail or business interests, May said.

Simply Organized will sell a wide variety of organizational tools so people can better arrange everything including their offices, garages, bathrooms and things in between, she said.

"Everybody needs places to put all their junk," she said.

Loomis, the Costco Iwilei manager, said the Kapolei site will be the seventh in Hawai'i for the nation's fourth-largest retailer.

Kapolei makes sense for Costco, he said, noting that more than 25,000 existing O'ahu Costco members live between Wai'anae and Waipahu. "This is the fastest growing community on the island," he said.

The new location will employ 200 to 300, depending on traffic, Loomis said. It will have 798 parking stalls and its food court, unlike the three existing O'ahu Costcos, will have its food court inside the store, he said.

The store will include more landscaping than the typical Costco, including a palm court entrance, Loomis said. The four-island gas station, which may expand to six if warranted, will open when the store opens.

The massive Kapolei Commons project is also expected to open its first stores in March 2009, said Jeff Dinsmore, president of MKC Management. Among those first stores will be Target and Sports Authority, both of which will be next to the freeway and on the mauka side of the property.

Other expected retailers include Office Max and Petco and a multiscreen Regal Cinemas.

Kapolei Commons is a joint venture between The MacNaughton Group and The Kobayashi Group. At 605,000 square feet, Kapolei Commons will rival Kahala Mall in size. There will be three entryways into the mall, all from the soon-to-be extended Kapolei Parkway, which stands between the property and The Honolulu Advertiser's production facility. The parkway extension will be completed before, or when, the mall opens, Dinsmore said.

Foodland Super Market vice-chairman Roger Wall said West O'ahu residents have been urging the state's largest supermarket chain to come to Kapolei.

The 56,320-square-foot Kapolei Village Center will include four other retail buildings. Wall said the center is expected to include retail shops such as a family restaurant, dry cleaner, bank, florist and a hair or nail salon. It will also feature an outdoor spray fountain for the keiki.

Foodland hopes to open the center in 2010, but is waiting for the roads around to be developed first, Wall said. "We can't start our construction until the road goes in," he said.