Safeway Inc. plans to build a large retail center on Kaua'i that would establish a second store on the island for the California-based grocery retailer.

The company is seeking permission from the county Planning Department for the roughly 220,000-square-foot project that would contain a 56,000-square-foot Safeway store in Lihu'e.

The project, Hokulei Village, is slated for 22 acres of former sugar cane fields that are fallow and now zoned for commercial use.

If permitting proceeds as expected, the new store could open in summer 2010.

Hokulei Village is envisioned to also include a collection of small retail shops, two or three sit-down restaurants, a possible gas station and two "junior anchor" stores selling clothing, electronics, sporting goods or books. Banks, office space and a 2,150-square-foot community meeting space also are part of the plan.

It isn't unusual for Safeway to develop retail centers as a way to open a new store in an area. The company used the same strategy to open a store on O'ahu last year in Kapahulu, and a Kihei, Maui, project called Piilani Village Shopping Center several years ago.

The Lihu'e project would be a major addition to Kaua'i's retail industry, but be significantly smaller than the island's largest mall, the 330,000-square-foot Kukui Grove Center on 35 acres less than a mile away.

Safeway has operated a store on Kaua'i in Kapa'a for two decades, and has 19 stores statewide.