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The Hawaiian Homes Commission Thursday gave a developer an additional year to execute a lease with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for 67 acres in Kapolei to develop a long-delayed regional shopping center called Ka Makana Ali’i.
The move increases some interim payments by DeBartolo Development for maintaining rights to the lease, and follows two previous extensions to start the lease that promises to deliver more than $600 million to DHHL over 65 years.
“I’m optimistic about this project and the positive impacts it will have on our programs and our ability to place native Hawaiian families on the land,” Jobie Masagatani, chair of the commission and director of DHHL, said in a statement.
In response to community concerns, DeBartolo agreed to a community benefits package estimated at $5.5 million for the first 25 years of the lease. The developer also agreed to construct a community park in the nearby Hawaiian homestead community of Kanehili.
DeBartolo plans to start construction on the 1.4 million-square-foot mall next year and have an initial phase open in fall 2015.
