Let the infilling commence.
Up before the Kaua’i Planning Commission’s Subdivision Committee last week was Grove Farm Properties’ request for a tentative subdivision extension regarding its proposed 225-lot residential subdivision between Kukui Grove Center and Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Puhi.
Besides the obvious infusion of cash that new Grove Farm and Lihu’e Land Company owner Steve Case brings to the table, his new acreage formerly known as Lihu’e Plantation provides a place Grove Farm can search for water sources necessary before the subdivision can be constructed, explained Michael Furukawa, Grove Farm vice president.
Case, who grew up in Hawai’i and is chairman of AOL Time Warner, purchased Grove Farm late last year, and the former Amfac Sugar Kaua’i Lihu’e Plantation acreage earlier this month.
The transformation of undeveloped land into developed land between two residential areas is called “infilling” by planners and developers, and is what Grove Farm is doing, slowly, between Lihu’e and Puhi.
The Pikake subdivision, as the 225 lots between the school and center are collectively called, has actually existed on Grove Farm planning maps for nearly a decade.
Case as the new owner brings substantial resources to the table, allowing the company to move forward with development plans which have been on the drawing board for several years.
“We’re beginning to focus on Pikake now, although we don’t have anything firm, just from the standpoint that we’re out of product in Pua Ko subdivision,” said Furukawa.
“So, Pikake is our next residential subdivision. However, right now, we don’t have any water for it, so we can’t move ahead. That’s one of the issues that’s holding it back,” he said.
Grove Farm is developing its own drinking water and well sources mauka of Kaumuali’i Highway, and Case’s recent acquisition of the former Amfac Sugar Kaua’i Lihu’e Plantation’s 17,000 acres offers lots of new land for Grove Farm to continue its search for water.
“That is a distinct possibility,” Furukawa said. “That provides an opportunity now that we’re sort of one, we can look at resources on both sides, wherever it makes the most sense.
“No question, it does provide an opportunity.” Market demand will also dictate the pace of development of the Pikake subdivision, he added.
The 225-lot Pikake subdivision has been up for various county approvals since at least 1992, when Hurricane ‘Iniki sent the island’s fragile economy into a tailspin, swirling Grove Farm into financial difficulties along with it.
At the time Case purchased Grove Farm late last year, the company in its merger proposal proxy statement hinted at continued difficulties making payments on bank debt of around $60 million.
Those concerns became a thing of the past when Case signed on the dotted line. Now, Grove Farm is moving ahead with plans to build the clubhouse and remaining eight holes of its Puakea Golf Course, and later this year will begin a $15 million renovation of Kukui Grove Center.
Case also committed several million dollars to shoring up existing Grove Farm water systems, and will likely approve funding for development of new water sources.
Business Editor Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
