Hokulei Village shopping center set to break ground in 2 weeks

A new Kauai shopping center anchored by Safeway in Lihue is again scheduled to break ground after repeated delays.

Property Development Centers, a Safeway affiliate developing the project called Hoku­lei Village, announced Tuesday that construction is scheduled to begin Jan. 29.

The new date follows an announced July 2013 groundbreaking that was called off. That cancellation was the latest in a series of setbacks for the project on 14 acres.

Safeway, which disclosed plans for the center in 2008, initially intended to finish construction in 2010. However, a series of problems cropped up, including the national economic slowdown, an expansion of Kaumualii Highway, and litigation over splitting the project into two phases.

A 56,000-square-foot Safeway store is projected to open toward the end of this year, followed by other tenants around the same time or in early 2015.

Other tenants planning to open at the center include Walgreens, Petco and Jack in the Box.

Safeway operates 21 stores in Hawaii, including one on Kauai in Kapaa. The Lihue store will be the company’s 22nd.