LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The state Department of Transportation intends to buy almost 80 acres next to Lihu'e Airport for airport improvements.

Tentative plans include moving rental car companies to the new area, which is bounded by Kapule Highway, Ahukini Road, the airport heliport area and Hanama'ulu Bay, said Brian Sekiguchi, the state's deputy airports director.

The present rental car area would be converted to public parking and eventually the heliport might be relocated, Sekigu- chi said.

Under a memorandum of agreement signed last week, landowner Grove Farm will build roads and install utilities for the area and incorporate that value into the market price offered, said Mike Tresler, Grove Farm senior vice president.

The company will retain 30 acres in the area, which it plans to develop for light industries that want to locate near the airport, Tresler said.

The land Grove Farm agreed to sell to the airport is the "Ahukini Makai" portion of the company's Wailani Master Plan to develop its farmland on the mauka side of the Kapule Highway between Hanama'ulu and Lihu'e with residential and commercial development.

"This agreement and expansion of the Lihu'e Airport builds on the Lingle-Aiona administration's efforts to develop collaborative and innovative solutions to modernize Hawai'i's airports, harbors and highways in order to meet our state's long-term transportation needs," DOT Director Brennon Morioka said in a news release. "It is also an example of the administration's ongoing commitment to strike a balance between fiscal discipline and stimulating the economy and creating jobs," Morioka said.

The state Legislature allotted about $17 million for Lihu'e Airport improvements several years ago, but the money hasn't been released yet, Sekiguchi said. "Even before the economy took a turn, we thought it was a smart thing to do," he said of the partnership with Grove Farm, which should allow faster progress than for a state construction project.

Grove Farm hopes to complete the transaction and begin work on the project early this year, Tresler said.