Environmental analysis OK’d for Kapolei complex

The Hawaiian Homes Commission approved this week a final environmental assessment for a proposed $400 million regional shopping center on 67.7 acres in Kapolei.

The long-envisioned center — Ka Makana Ali’i — is being developed by an affiliate of Florida-based DeBartolo Development between Kapolei Parkway and Roosevelt Avenue.

The center — at 1.4 million square feet — would be Oahu’s third-largest shopping complex and located near the city’s rail transit system and University of Hawaii’s West Oahu campus; Kapolei Middle and High schools; and proposed Hawaiian Home Lands Trust housing developments. The project was first announced in 2006.

Construction is scheduled in two phases over the next four years and is estimated to generate 21,000 building jobs as well as more than 7,000 positions from center tenants, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands said in a statement.

The first phase, on about 19.72 acres, will have a square footage of 200,681, while the second phase will measure 1.15 million square feet.

As part of a 65-year lease agreement, DHHL could receive more than $140 million over the first 25 years from DeBartolo, boosting the agency’s financial wherewithal to develop homes for Native Hawaiians.

"We are pleased that this project has met another crucial benchmark and that this much-anticipated community shopping development will result in millions of dollars in revenue to finance homesteading opportunities for our beneficiaries," said Commission Chairman Albert "Alapaki" Nahale-a in a press release.

Edward Kobel, DeBartolo Development president and chief operating officer, said the company has received strong interest from prospective tenants, which will be announced in the coming months.

"We are excited about bringing the best of the local and national retailers as well as some new shopping the islands have never had before," he said in a statement.

Ka Makana Ali’i is envisioned to be the home of a major department store, family entertainment complex, two hotels, low-rise office buildings and a neighborhood specialty market, drugstores and convenience shops.