A $20 million shopping center is being proposed for Pahoa town on Hawaii island.

The 104,250-square-foot center at 15-2714 Old Pahoa Village Road would be anchored by a supermarket and filled with roughly 20 tenants including medical clinics, restaurants and other small retailers.

The project on nearly 10 acres could mean jobs for an estimated 400 residents, stimulating the economy in the rural community roughly 30 miles from Hilo, said center developer Jon McElvaney, representing landowner Bryson Kuwahara, who didn’t return calls for comment.

"There’s 50,000 people in lower Puna, and there’s very limited services, so people have to drive 45 minutes into Hilo town for services that could be provided in Pahoa," McElvaney said. "There’s not enough medical services out there."

Construction could begin as early as mid-2013, with a completion date of 2015.

Pahoa has two medical clinics, three small grocery stores and roughly 40 retailers. The project will add a stage area, a bus stop, bike paths, new sidewalks and a post office while keeping the flavor of old Pahoa town, McElvaney said. It will also include photovoltaic panels to offset utility costs and organic waste systems.

"We’re going to ask the public to send in pictures of designs that appeal to them, and the history and the culture of the area will be included in the designs," he said. "We’re calling this ‘designed by community.’ We’ll create, through those pictures, designs that will go to the architect."

McElvaney is in negotiations with a number of supermarkets and a major medical clinic but would not give any names.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Transportation is building a roundabout within 2,000 feet of the project at the intersection of the Pahoa bypass and Old Pahoa Village Road. Kuwahara will pay for the installation of a traffic signal at Old Pahoa Village Road and Kahakai Boulevard.

Kuwahara has requested county approval for a property zoning change to commercial from agricultural, McElvaney said.

A warehouse belonging to Bryson’s Cinders, a company providing cinders and soil for construction, will be moved from the property, as well as one of two residential homes. The remaining residence will be remodeled into a full-service restaurant.