Safeway may anchor an 'Ewa Beach shopping center that is expected to break ground this year and increase retail options — but also traffic concerns — for residents of the area.

The project, Laulani Village, is expected to open in early 2008 and become the biggest shopping center in 'Ewa Beach, with 50 to 80 tenants including restaurants and sellers of home furnishings, electronics and apparel.

But some community members are objecting to a new intersection with traffic signals on Fort Weaver Road that's part of the project across from the entrance to the Hawai'i Prince Golf Club.

"The community is going to be against that," said Gary Bautista, a member of the 'Ewa Neighborhood Board, which was scheduled to receive a presentation of the project from a Laulani Village representative last night.

"Can you imagine — we already have 11 traffic lights, maybe 12 (along Fort Weaver Road). They're going to put in another one. There is a big downside."

Jeff Alexander, another area neighborhood board member, echoed Bautista's comments about the new intersection, but saw an upside to the project: "Far better a shopping center than more homes."

The 260,000-square-foot center, which will include about 17,000 square feet of office space, is planned by Laulani Village LLC, a partnership between San Francisco-based development firm Bristol Group and Hawaiian Asset Management & Investments Corp.

The partnership bought a 20-acre site in late 2004 for $12 million from an affiliate of Campbell Estate, according to property records.

The commercial-zoned site, a piece of a bigger section of former farmland once used by Oahu Sugar Co., is flanked by about 170 acres of land owned by Gentry Cos., which plans to build homes on the property as part of its more than 9,000-home 'Ewa by Gentry project.

Gentry has built about 6,400 homes at 'Ewa by Gentry, but has yet to begin building west of Fort Weaver Road around the Laulani Village site.

Austin Hirayama, principal broker with Hawaiian Asset, said Laulani Village is envisioned to serve the growing population of the 'Ewa Plain as the biggest retail center in 'Ewa Beach.

Other major shopping centers in the area include the 80,000-square-foot Ewa Town Center anchored by Foodland, and the similar-sized Ewa Beach Shopping Center anchored by Star Markets.

As part of Laulani Village, the developer plans to build a road connecting Fort Weaver Road to Kapolei Parkway. The new road, an extension to Keaunui Drive, would provide access to the shopping center off Fort Weaver.

But area residents Bautista and Alexander said the new road would do little to alleviate traffic congestion that can make a trip along Fort Weaver Road a 30-minute affair at rush hour.

The center is laid out with clusters of stores, including a few spaces for roughly 20,000-square-foot tenants, mostly along the edges of the site with parking in the core. "It's like a strip mall on steroids," Hirayama said.

Hirayama declined to name potential tenants because leases have not yet been signed. But he said the project has many tenant commitments.

Safeway is identified as the anchor tenant at Laulani Village with a 58,000-square-foot store, according to project promotion materials affiliated with leasing agent PM Realty Group.

But Hirayama said Safeway is being considered as the anchor tenant along with other supermarket operators. A Safeway representative said no agreement has been reached for a Laulani Village store.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.