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Terms changed on land gift

STAR-ADVERTISER

Developer Jeff Stone has thrown a wrench into an opportunity for reviving a charitable plan to build educational facilities and affordable housing in Makaha Valley.

Stone, after canceling the plan on June 13 by withdrawing a gift of 300 acres, had proclaimed he would honor his donation if his partners — Kamehameha Schools and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands — could fulfill terms of their agreements signed in March 2010.

DHHL expressed interest in the renewed offer on Wednesday, as did Kamehameha Schools on Friday.

But on Monday, Stone sent an email to Kamehameha Schools saying he would only revive the plan if Kamehameha Schools agrees to finish building its part of the project, an estimated $100 million learning complex on about 70 acres, within five years.

Stone called five years a “reasonable amount of time” and said full build-out could be done in two years. He also said the educational enrichment programs for preschoolers to young adults are necessary to support the 400 homes DHHL plans to build on an adjacent 230 acres.

Stone’s new condition was immediately rejected by Kamehameha Schools.

“This latest maneuver by Mr. Stone is simply not acceptable,” Kekoa Paulsen, spokesman for Kamehameha Schools, said in an email. “We have advised Mr. Stone that we are still willing to close by June 30 on the original terms, and we have invited him to contact us directly to complete his gift.”

The original proposal, agreed to by all parties in March 2010, called for building a $100 million educational complex next to 400 affordable homes for Native Hawaiians on 300 acres donated by Stone. At the time, Stone said the gift had “no strings attached.”

Stone’s new spending deadline for the educational component represents a major change to the 24-page gift agreement he signed with Kamehameha Schools in March 2010.

In the gift agreement, Kamehameha Schools said it would spend $10 million of the planned $100 million within five years, and another $15 million in another five years, or $25 million in the first 10 years. The spending projections were nonbinding, according to the agreement.

“To be very clear,” Stone said in an email, “if Kamehameha Schools is truly committed to building the entire $100 million Learning Community on Stone Family Lands as Trustee (Corbett) Kalama said, Kamehameha Schools must complete its phased development within five years, as the Learning Community needs to be in place first to support the DHHL homes.”

“Many incidences have happened that have caused me (to) lose confidence in the Kamehameha Schools commitment to this gift,” Stone said.

Kamehameha Schools said Stone has been misrepresenting facts.

The roughly $8 billion nonprofit educational trust, which spent $102 million on educational outreach programs last fiscal year, also said it remains steadfast in its commitment to fully complete its $100 million vision in Makaha Valley.

“KS did not deviate from the original terms of the former gift agreement between Kamehameha Schools and Jeff Stone,” the organization said in a statement. “We are still prepared to close this deal under the original terms.”

Kamehameha Schools was prepared to close on the gift deal Feb. 11, but the closing was contingent on DHHL accepting its piece. DHHL couldn’t meet the deadline because assessment work, including soil studies, took longer than anticipated, and that led to explorations of alternative ways to complete the deal that Stone ultimately rejected.

Stone said he is willing to give DHHL and Kamehameha Schools until Aug. 30 to complete the deal subject to the new spending deadline.

No timetable for DHHL to build its homes is included in the offer.

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