Facebook entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg’s “agricultural” compound, under construction in Moloaa, will be a large complex with a comparatively modest 6,100-square-foot, two-bedroom residence high above the shoreline.
It also will have a 16-bay garage complex and a “ranch administration building” that includes keycard-protected offices and a security headquarters.
A review of Zuckerberg’s plans, which are on file with the county Department of Public Works Building Division in Lihue, yields a comprehensive picture of what Zuckerberg is building as a Kauai retreat for himself and his wife, pediatrician Dr. Priscilla Chan, and their two young daughters, Max and August.
The administration building is more spacious than the residence, which sits a quarter-mile closer to the ocean than the rest of the complex, down a curving driveway. It will not be visible from nearby Koolau Road.
The administration building and the garage complex — three separate structures — are grouped together, next to an area of Zuckerberg’s property labeled as reserved for “future greenhouses,” of unknown purpose. The garages — massive prefabricated steel buildings that look a little like aircraft hangars — are specifically designated for “repair of vehicles.”
But the plans themselves, in ways, deepen the mystery of what the social media mogul may be up to. A small public relations firm — that represents the Zuckerbergs and has offices in Pennsylvania and on Kauai — declined to respond directly to questions about the project.
The PR firm issued a statement on Zuckerberg’s behalf in the wake of emergence of the scandal involving the hacking of personal information of tens of millions of Facebook users and his appearances before committees of Congress. The committees are investigating the data breach and the implications for personal privacy of social media outlets like Facebook.
The Garden Island posed a series of questions to Facebook’s media office relating to the purposes for the individual buildings and whether Zuckerberg intends to use the complex as a Facebook office facility. The company was asked if Zuckerberg plans to support technology resources on island, as an educational or other strategy. Facebook did not respond.
In a statement released on Zuckerberg’s behalf, Jenny Fujita, a partner in Fujita & Miura Public Relations in Lihue, said: “The property will be used both as a working ranch and family retreat. It has long served as a ranch, and in partnership with local families that have a history of producing sustainable agriculture, the property will also support organic ginger and turmeric while continuing to provide dedicated care for all native wildlife. Beyond the ranch, Mark and Priscilla have made commitments to Kauai charitable organizations that help to improve our island’s education and health care systems and promote conservation.”
Zuckerberg owns a total of 707 acres, purchased in 2014 for a combined reported price of more than $110 million.
In the wake of the recent record-setting storm that struck Kauai in mid-April, the Zuckerbergs made a $1 million donation for island storm relief.
The property is on Koolau Road. It drew criticism in late 2016 and early 2017, when Zuckerberg constructed a rock wall, three- quarters of a mile long, to which neighbors objected.
He also initiated, but later abandoned, legal action to take title to small parcels of land within his property — many of them owned by Native Hawaiians or long-established Kauai families.
The most mysterious of the structures now under construction is designated as a “farm dwelling,” an open plan, single-level ultra- modern house listed on blueprints as being 6,207-square-feet. It has a slightly sloping roof that creates a shed-like look. The square footage measurement appears to include screened and other lanais in addition to the interior living space. There is an open kitchen with a large island and the normal array of appliances.
The house is directly above Pakala Point. It is near Kaakaaniu Beach, also known as Larsen’s Beach.
It has expansive windows and will sit both on stilts and built into a hillside. It is positioned slightly outside a state-designated “conservation district” on the shoreline. Zuckerberg might have chosen to build the house closer to the water, but that proximity would have required a special permit required to undergo additional state review, according to county officials.
According to county sources, when the plans were reviewed before the permits were issued, plan checkers were surprised at the modest nature of the dwelling, which has more of the feel of a guesthouse than a residence.
The blueprints show two different floorplans for the house. Each has two bedrooms. One floorplan shows bedrooms of the same size — about 16 feet square. The second set shows one of the bedrooms somewhat larger.
The plans with the larger master bedroom show two identically sized bathrooms, both of modest dimensions. However, the plans depicting two identically sized bedrooms depict spaces designated as “locker rooms,” with sink, toilet and an outdoor shower adjoining. The county documents do not identify which of the two floorplans is actually being built.
The farm dwelling may fit a pattern common on Kauai and on the North Shore, in particular, in which wealthy landowners construct guesthouses as a first development step, intending to return to the project later for addition of a much larger main house. If Zuckerberg plans to eventually build a mansion and use the “farm dwelling” as a guesthouse, he will have to file separate permit applications.
The plans and included topographic maps do not designate any site for a prospective future mansion. No completion date for the current construction is listed on the plans, but the garage and administration building are far along. There is no indication in the documents of when the Zuckerbergs plan to occupy the property or how much time they will spend there.
The “ranch operations and administration building” is listed at 7,113- square-feet. It includes four keycard- protected offices, a security headquarters, a large reception area and a room designated for “staff storage,” but also described as a possible “future certified kitchen.”
It has such amenities as a large laundry room, two wine storage lockers, a conference room, a dedicated security office, a breakroom and an expansive entry lanai, as well as a room designed for electronic capabilities including four Internet switches and multiple video monitors. The plans show a 25-ton air conditioning system for the administration building, and a large capacity backup generator supported by a 5,000-gallon propane tank.
The complex sits on land zoned for agriculture, so any office building would be required to be for farm-related business and not as a Kauai extension of Facebook’s Bay Area complex in California, according to a person familiar with zoning issues. The U-shaped garage complex comprises 17,586-square-feet, but does not indicate what types of vehicles may be accommodated there or what purpose they may serve.
The buildings were designed by Gregory L. Warner of the Walker-Warner architectural firm in San Francisco. A public relations firm representing Walker-Warner did not respond to a series of questions about the Zuckerberg project.
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Allan Parachini is a journalist and former PR executive who lives in Kilauea.
