LIHU’E – Maybe only on Kaua’i will fishermen refuse to meet with a developer seeking to provide easier access to special shoreline spots.
Attorney Walton D.Y. Hong, who represents Ernest Moody, owner of around 400 acres of land along the Hanama’ulu coastline, said he has heard that local fishermen are refusing to meet with him regarding Moody’s desire to provide better access to the shoreline areas because the fishermen don’t want others to know where the best fishing spots are along that coast.
Speaking before about 20 members of the Lihu’e Business Association Tuesday at Fenton Lee’s Hawaiian Classic Desserts here, Hong showed on a map three proposed locations for public access to the shoreline.
The public access areas are part of the Ocean Bay Plantation at Hanama’ulu, and the 400 acres of land that Moody bought around a year ago stretches from Hanama’ulu Bay down to Wailua Golf Course, makai of Kapule and Kuhio highways.
It was formerly part of Amfac Sugar Kauai’s Lihue Plantation. The current plans for the acreage include an 18-hole golf course along the shoreline, homes along the golf course, a small commercial center along the highway near the intersection of Kuhio and Kapule highways, and other uses, Hong said.
An avid golfer, Moody, an inventor of electronic games used in Las Vegas casinos and other applications, wants most out of his Kaua’i land establishment of a world-class golf course, Hong said.
Moody, a millionaire and Vegas resident, has no financial need to maximize profits on his Kaua’i investment, but does desire to have sales of residential parcels pay much of the cost of building the golf course, Hong explained.
EWM Kaua’i, LLC (Limited Liability Company) is Moody’s company and the entity applying for various state and county permits necessary to go forward with the project, which Hong said will take between six to 10 years to complete.
Currently, the company is applying for various state and county permits and approvals required before it can move forward with a preliminary phase of the overall project, that being “renaturalization” of around 30 shoreline acres by removal of dead or diseased introduced vegetation in favor of native plants.
County approval was granted recently for the first three acres of that 30-acre project to proceed, which is essentially a test plot to see what kinds of native plants will and will not grow along the shoreline, Hong said.
If the various county and state approvals come as anticipated, groundbreaking for the golf course could happen within 18 months. Hong said Moody rejected a consultant’s idea to construct homes along the shoreline, where they would fetch higher prices, opting instead for the golf course to be built overlooking the ocean, with the homes inland of the golf course.
The infrastructure work could begin within two years, and work on the first homes may start within two to three years. Hong said Moody is taking a financial risk by building the golf course first in anticipation of solid sales of residential lots to pay for the course construction.
Moody wants to work with the community, not against it, and sees his property serving as something of a gateway to the east and north shores of the island, and a project that will create jobs (during and after the construction phases) and economic opportunities for the people of Kaua’i, Hong continued.
Total development costs will be tens of millions of dollars, with industry standards generally indicating the cost of building a golf course at $1 million per hole.
The area of Moody’s property along Kapule and Kuhio highways will be landscaped and beautified to act as a natural extension of Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s Lihu’e Airport gateway project, said Hong.
A proposed bike path to stretch from Nawiliwili Harbor to Anahola can be accommodated through parts of the Ocean Bay Plantation project, though federal wetlands within the property will require something of a diversion around the wetlands, Hong explained.
The 400-acre parcel, listed for $3.9 million, was purchased by Moody last year for somewhere near the asking price.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
