KALAPAKI — Anchor Cove Shopping Center at Kalapaki Beach is getting a face-lift. James Jasper Enterprises plans to expand the Anchor Cove Shopping Center in Nawiliwili by renovating and re-positioning its adjacent property. Renovation plans include converting existing warehouse space
KALAPAKI — Anchor Cove Shopping Center at Kalapaki Beach is getting a face-lift.
James Jasper Enterprises plans to expand the Anchor Cove Shopping Center in Nawiliwili by renovating and re-positioning its adjacent property.
Renovation plans include converting existing warehouse space to retail, replacing the roof, and adding new awnings to storefronts. Their intention is to add a new oceanfront restaurant with outdoor seating and a small market or convenience store to serve locals and visitors.
Work is scheduled to begin by the end of this year. Lihue-based architect Marc Ventura is designing the project.
Longtime Anchor Cove tenants include JJ’s Broiler, ABC Stores, Maui Divers Jewelry and Crazy Shirts, to name a few.
“We’re all for new ideas and anything that brings in local people,” said Mara Godfrey-Nakamura, manager for Crazy Shirts, which has been established since 1964. “Here in Hawaii, we all like food. So I think a restaurant will bring in a lot of new local people.”
But some shop owners in the easternmost building of the shopping center were concerned about the renovation plans.
“According to plans I’ve seen, my business won’t exist,” said Chris Holmes, owner of Kauai Bound, who has rented the retail space for four years. “I haven’t heard anything from the management company as to what the plans are. … I started this business from scratch using my life savings, and now I’ve seen the plans and advertisement online that these are all for lease with the new configuration. Nobody’s approached me with any kind of offer or counter-offer or anything else to see if I can move my business.”
Plans for the building along Waapa Road include a 5,250-square-foot market, two 1,500-square-foot retail spaces and a 2,250-square-foot restaurant with outdoor seating.
“I only found out about it online,” said Holmes, who has two years remaining on his lease. “From what I’ve seen from the plans, my shop will be part of the restaurant. Fabric Art Hawaii, Papalani Gelato and Chaney Brooks are going to become a market of some kind.”
Situated overlooking the popular Kalapaki Beach, Anchor Cove has become one of Kauai’s most successful resort retail projects. The center is surrounded by roughly 1,000 visitor accommodations, including the 356-room Marriott Beach Resort and Timber’s new luxury resort development Hokuala.
Within walking distance of the shopping center, the Nawiliwili Harbor cruise ship terminal is port to weekly inter-island and international cruise ships 125 times annually. In 2016, Nawiliwili Harbor was port to roughly 90,000 passengers.
“A lot of our customers come from the ship,” Godfrey-Nakamura said. “We wanna see more local people in our stores and our shopping center.”
