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Chinese firm buys Kapolei land for $103.4M

Andrew Gomes

A Chinese company has completed its purchase of 514 acres of undeveloped land for residential development in Kapolei from James Campbell Co.

Campbell Co. said the $103.4 million sale to China Oceanwide Holdings Ltd. will advance development of Oahu’s “Second City” as the seller and buyer begin installing road and drainage infrastructure for the site, known as Kapolei West, that was approved in 2008 for up to 2,500 homes, a golf course, an elementary school and a transit hub.

No timetable was given for home construction on the site, which is between the City of Kapolei and Ko Olina Resort & Marina.

“This is an important step in fulfilling the Kapolei Area Long-Range Master Plan,” Richard Dahl, president and CEO of Campbell Co., said in a statement. “Since Kapolei West’s approval in 2008, we have sought out an exceptional residential master developer to bring the long-standing plans for this project to fruition. China Oceanwide has a strong track record of investment, with significant U.S. investments since 2013, and is currently developing resort properties in Ko Olina.”

Campbell Co. said it is partnering with China Oceanwide to immediately spend more than $23 million on infrastructure improvements that will include extending Kapolei Parkway.

The purchase by China Oceanwide follows two other acquisitions the company has made in Hawaii this year. The other purchases were a $280 million beachfront site at Ko Olina on which the company plans to build a hotel under the Atlantis Resorts brand, and a nearby $200 million beachfront site on which up to two luxury hotels and one luxury condo are envisioned.

China Oceanwide is an affiliate of Oceanwide Holdings Co., a Chinese conglomerate engaged in real estate, finance and investing primarily in China. Last year, the company adopted an overseas real estate development strategy and has looked at Hawaii as an attractive market in which to invest.

61 responses to “Chinese firm buys Kapolei land for $103.4M”

  1. Husky77 says:

    If the Atlantis project can get a casino built, it will go a long way to create passenger traffic for the rail!

    • Tempmanoa says:

      Maybe we will see Trump out here too. He has done deals with Kerzner, the South African owner of Atlantis Resorts– this connection was on the news recently. Trump can do one of his casino deals where he uses money from others, then seeks bankruptcy protection, and leaves everyone hanging and but takes a near $Billion tax deduction.

      • plaba says:

        Trump is here in Waikiki .

        • Wazdat says:

          Trump is NOT in waikiki, that bulding only bought the rights to use his name. Do some research !!

        • Pocho says:

          Is the hotel, named Trump or not? Geez. The US outsourced it jobs and probably imposes low import tariffs on China goods. Who’s got the money nowadays? Millions of American’s living off Gov. handouts in proverty, etc. China now the Japanese from the Far East so I can’t wait for the US economy to fail to buy back land from these Chinese at low prices.

      • NanakuliBoss says:

        The Hawaiians would never deal with Trump. The Chinese will built a great Rail stop (last)along with parking and a coast shuttle. In return for management jobs and homes, the DHHL land swap could occur when the “casino” option is included in the “recognition” process. Atlantis will then pay for last 3 miles of rail. Last Stop CASINO PARADISE ISLAND.

    • Txpyer says:

      Oh great, traffic on the Westside will double or triple when its done.

      • localguy says:

        Rail will solve all our problems.

        Well, Caldwell said it would. Also told us just the other day rail is “On time, on budget” and to always trust him.

    • justmyview371 says:

      Now we have to generate traffic for Rail. Otherwise, it will be underutilized.

  2. nippy68 says:

    What ever happened to ” keep Hawaiian lands in Hawaiian hands”?

    • Morimoto says:

      Capitalism took over, many years ago.

    • iwanaknow says:

      It’s just a wonderful line is a sad song……….we sell our lands to the highest bidder……..that’s the American way.

      so….all the money we spent at Wal-Mart went to China, and now here is a way to claw our American dollars back?

      Maybe this Chinese Company can finish our Rail System? …wishful thinking.

    • paulokada says:

      It’s a residential development.

    • Eleo says:

      Poor choice. Campbell estate should have considered selling the land back to the Kanaka Maoli and made it part of an ahupua’a heritage site rather than selling it to foreigners. James Campbell was a hardworking industries pioneer who came to Hawaii as a plantation immigrant. He was crafting and utilized his soft skills to board several whaling He vessels before finding his to Hawaii. He married twice before marrying into a Hawaiian aristocrat family before venturing into acquiring Hawaiian properties for agriculture. The wife was said to be a close relative to King Kalakaua who helped them acquired most of their land. His daughter, Abigail, married into the Koananakoa royal family bloodline. It sad knowing with the history, that the family choose to liquidate and sell their prime land to foreigners rather than to use their lands to perpetuate the culture that has given them so much.

      • FarmerDave says:

        Thanks for the history lesson. I agree. So sad greed is so powerful.

      • NanakuliBoss says:

        Your history lesson includes marriages into powerful indigenous families by white men. This was a world wide practice that got these greedy men into the land ownership. It wasn’t about companionship or “Christian” love. Campbell wasn’t a steward of the land, many heeiau’s were bulked over for $ugar cane$.

  3. Tempmanoa says:

    The parent company of China Oceanside was founded and led by a high ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party. At one time, the parent was 100% owner of all of its subsidiaries including its USA subsidiary in San Francisco (I know the company from San Francisco)– I assume this is still true. So it is an interesting arrangement bringing Chinese capital to help develop the Koolina resort in partnership with Kamaina owned company. Maybe this will also bring Chinese tourists to Hawaii.

    • South76 says:

      Hopefully just Chinese tourists to come and spend and not the pregnant Chinese tourists coming here to give birth to a baby just have an American citizenship baby.

      • Marauders_1959 says:

        That is what illegals from Latin American countries do in CA.
        Soon they’ll head over here too.

        • dragoninwater says:

          Haaa, jokes on you, they already can. California is a sanctuary state for illegals and issued out ID’s and DL’s to every illegal in the state. Now they can roam via airplanes all over the US including HI as they please just like legal residents. Keep voted “D” and you’ll soon regret your actions since laws are difficult to revoke.

        • localguy says:

          dragoninwater – There you go again posting shibai. No due diligence to verify what you posted is true.

          Had you done so you would have learned any DL issued to an “illegal” is not valid outside the state, for TSA lines, other areas.

          Mark of a rookie poster.

          https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/know-your-rights/california-ab-60-drivers-licenses

        • dragoninwater says:

          localguy, the arm chair self proclaimed subject matter expert opens his trap again knowing nothing about the issue. Friend of mine whom works for the TSA tells me illegals fly all the time, they face zero issues but to shove some proof back into your face you can read the face here, not some garbage you read on some fear mongering site.

          “When an individual presents a driver’s license or state-issued ID with ‘not for official purposes,’ ‘not for federal use,’ or similar language imprinted, the TDC officer must accept the ID using the procedure in Section 3.2. ”

          Read and weep as you have been discredited again and again making a fool of yourself playing SME… http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/01/29/democrats-lie-illegals-fly-new-ca-licenses-accepted-by-tsa/

      • dragoninwater says:

        haaa, I would prefer them over the ones from South of the Border any day since they are not a net drain on the economy. But hey, vote for HitLIARy and you’ll get all the illegals from Syria, Mexico and China start dropping of anchor babies once HitLIARy shoves amnesty down our throats.

    • san_inu says:

      Chinese tourists are the worse – rude and crude.

      • inverse says:

        Many people say the exact same thing.

      • dragoninwater says:

        Take a trip to the third world country of the Peoples Republic of California, I think you might just reconsider which race is rude, crude and outright criminal, and their race doesn’t start with the letter “A”. hahahaha

        • Ikefromeli says:

          Is that why over 10% of Fortune 500 companies are based in California or that outside of NYC it has the largest capital markets.? No need to answer, please reside in your racist ideology…..

        • dragoninwater says:

          Ikefromeli, you must be living 30 years in the past. Most F-500 corporations have left CA and left behind branch offices. Even the remaining tech giants have moved most of operations to other states and overseas and funnel money through the EU and left only a few top workers in Silicon Valley for the sole reason to avoid CA taxes. Don’t kid yourself thinking CA is a great place especially with a half trillion dollars in government pension liabilities. CA is a ticking time-bomb like nothing you could even imagine. NY on the other hand is doing well, then again NY isn’t inhabited with a 40% population of illegals and welfare recipients.

        • Ikefromeli says:

          Wrong….next to Texas it has the most F500 companies in the nation-53 to be exact. At last count, the employment of tech workers in the Silicon Valley totaled over 400,000 and lead the nation, as well as its average salary over 144k. So, the comment “a few top workers”, is not only wrong, your entire posit is incorrect.

          You best speak in facts, not pithy platitudes….

        • Ikefromeli says:

          As for your rants about immigrants, first Asia leads in its flow of immigrants, not Mexico.

          Collectively, they paid an estimated $10.6 billion to state and local taxes in 2010, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a research organization that works on tax policy issues. Contributions varied by state. In Montana they contributed $2 million. In California, more than $2.2 billion. On average they pay about 6.4% of their income in state and local taxes, ITEP said.

          A 2007 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the impact of undocumented immigrants on the budgets of local and state governments cited IRS figures showing that 50% to 75% of the about 11 million unauthorized U.S. immigrants file and pay income taxes each year.
          A 2013 CBO analysis of the failed bipartisan bill introduced by the so-called “gang of 8” that would have created a path to legal status for many undocumented immigrants found that increasing legal immigration would increase government spending on refundable tax credits, Medicaid and health insurance subsidies, among other federal benefits. But it would also create even more tax revenue by way of income and payroll taxes. That could reduce deficits by $175 billion over the first 10 years and by at least $700 billion in the second decade.
          ITEP estimates that allowing certain immigrants to stay in the country and work legally would boost state and local tax contributions by $2 billion a year.
          Related: America’s most dangerous jobs.

          Myth # 2: They don’t pay into Social Security

          The truth is that undocumented immigrants contribute more in payroll taxes than they will ever consume in public benefits.
          Take Social Security. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), unauthorized immigrants — who are not eligible to receive Social Security benefits — have paid an eye-popping $100 billion into the fund over the past decade.
          “They are paying an estimated $15 billion a year into Social Security with no intention of ever collecting benefits,” Stephen Goss, chief actuary of the SSA told CNNMoney. “Without the estimated 3.1 million undocumented immigrants paying into the system, Social Security would have entered persistent shortfall of tax revenue to cover payouts starting in 2009,” he said.
          As the baby boom generation ages and retires, immigrant workers are key to shoring up Social Security and counteracting the effects of the decline in U.S.-born workers paying into the system, Goss said.
          Without immigrants, the Social Security Board of Trustees projects that the system will no longer be able to pay the full promised benefits by 2037.

          Myth #3: They drain the system
          Undocumented immigrants do not qualify for welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, and most other public benefits. Most of these programs require proof of legal immigration status and under the 1996 welfare law, even legal immigrants cannot receive these benefits until they have been in the United States for 5 years.

          A CBO report on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 concluded that a path to legalization for immigrants would increase federal revenues by $48 billion. Such a plan would see $23 billion in increased costs from the use of public services, but ultimately, it would produce a surplus of $25 billion for government coffers, CBO said.

          Myth # 4: They take American jobs
          The American economy needs immigrant workers.
          The belief that immigrants take jobs that can otherwise be filled by hard-working Americans has been disputed by an overwhelming number of economic research studies and data.CNN-Money

        • localguy says:

          Far better in California than the little banana boat republic, back water, 10th world of Hawaii Nei.

        • dragoninwater says:

          localguy, I’m sure you’ll get along real well with the illegals there and getting taxed to death. You have no idea how badly CA taxes the living daylights out of it’s legal and hardworking residents. It’s no wonder most don’t own homes there and those that so are too broke to ever pay off their mortgages so they have roommates living with them to help pay their bills. All the homes are from the 1920’s – 1960’s with no money to even renovate, 3rd world country all the way! Good luck!

        • dragoninwater says:

          Ikefromeli, I’m not going to even respond to your copy/paste shill tabloid article from CNN. It has been debunked at so many levels that it shows your sheer incompetence beyond any imagination. Like localguy, you also search the web and think you’re a subject matter expert having no actual knowledge in government policies and rules and you simply post anything you read claiming as fact. I’ll debunk just one of your many myths for the sake of time since this argument is off track already.

          Sources…
          1. From the state government of NY proving illegals get benifits: https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/articles/james-l-seward/what-benefits-can-illegal-aliens-receive
          2. Welfare illegals get: http://cis.org/Cost-Welfare-Immigrant-Native-Households

  4. KB says:

    try to have performance with OUT bonus …Get back to good job because you have pride …this is what is triggering IRS SCANDAL, WELLS FARGO and now we are trying to do this with government workers ….Is this how we nurture our children … NO PRIDE ..SHORT TERM THINKING …

  5. sjean says:

    Don’t worry. Donald has huge plans for China.

  6. Gonefishin says:

    Great location and investment for China’s intelligence gathering capabilities.

    • Eradication says:

      Spot on comment!!!

    • Mythman says:

      Campbell is the Scottish side of Kalakaua’s clan, meaning no actual native makes a dime and the white princess I guess rakes in more money from the land they took from the native owners. Folks, tourism is going to triple over the next decades…….and yes, with casinos.

    • FarmerDave says:

      China’s “gathering capabilities” seemed to be focused on acquiring all our money and land. Don’t think they care much about our “intelligence”, cause they already know the USA doesn’t have much of that.

  7. Wazdat says:

    WOW. Selling out to chinese developers sounds like a TERRIBLE idea. Wonder if they will import and use those CHEAP products from china to build? Talk about SELLING out with NO VISION !!

    • Morimoto says:

      So if it was a Canadian company without any experience in building homes it would be GREAT? I suggest you look up the definition of capitalism before you post your ignorance. Guess you’d rather have American companies build out there and then have residents pay twice what they would than if this company built up the land right? If you hate Chinese products so much I suggest you put your money where your mouth is and stop buying them. Good luck with that.

      • Kriya says:

        Wow… troll much? You have comments on this one little story over several hours harassing anyone who thinks its a bad idea or is even remotely critical. There should be a law requiring lobbyists and hired communications firms to identify themselves as paid hacks in public forums, etc.

        And yes, I think there should be federal laws prohibiting the sales of lots of land like this to foreign adversaries like China, Russia, and perhaps a few others so near to some of the most strategically important military bases on the planet. That is clearly a national security concern that only a fool would (or someone paid to look the other way) would not see as a major concern here.

        • Morimoto says:

          I’m open to debate regarding this purchase but you lost all credibility when you called me a “troll”. If you can’t debate like a mature individual you’re not worth my time.

        • dragoninwater says:

          Learn a bit more about the economy on a broader scale before sounding a bit inept and bad mouthing them. China is a massive buyer of our national debt at the federal level since they hold the largest swath of US Treasury bonds. They OWN our A$$ already. Just keep paying your mortgage on your FED bubble inflated home because if it wasn’t for China to save our A$$ we’d be like defunct Greece or Detroit today.

        • Ikefromeli says:

          Again, you have pivoted into another position and conflated into an erroneous idea and posit.

          Consider this, the U.S. has around $16 trillion in outstanding debt and most of it is held by us, and the bulge bracket banks here at home: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citibank, Bank of America. Around 7.5 percent is held by China, the biggest foreign holder of U.S. debt.

          One of the reasons why China has so much Treasury holdings is because of trade. Companies put money in short term Treasury notes and bills to settle trade payments. China’s government could also call all of its own holdings and demand full payment of the money it lent us in principal plus interest, but under what circumstance would they do such a thing?

          It would be a national security risk if China held a position where they could dictate U.S. policy on fiscal and monetary matters. They cannot–period. Further, they neither own us or an individual as you so clumsily place it.

          If the economy was crashing and China got terrified and wanted their money back, unless the U.S. defaulted, it would hand it over and there would be nothing China would get in return. Moreover, when the U.S. economy was collapsing in 2008 all the way to the 666 low on March 6 in the S&P 500, China never retreated from Treasurys, or demand Congress get its finances in order or else it would choose to buy euros, or gold .

          The Pentagon did an evaluation on the risks posed by China’s ownership of U.S. debt in July and came to the same conclusion: “Attempting to use U.S. Treasury securities as a coercive tool would have limited effect and likely would do more harm to China than to the United States.” Forbes

    • paulokada says:

      China has Billions of US Dollars and we giving it to them when we but their products.

  8. Numilalocal says:

    I think they’re invading us…

  9. synjihinano says:

    I am naïve, but I wish we would not sell our precious land to a China conglomerate because China is not a certain ally of the U.S.

    • Morimoto says:

      Yes you are naive, or at least not realistic.

    • GSR808 says:

      unfornately, whoever has the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ can have whatever they want in the nei

    • pridon says:

      China just getting a foothold for another Chinese Naval installation. Don’t you know that China owns the south China sea as well as the Western Pacific Ocean.

      • inverse says:

        No need. They have attractive and smart Chinese females under the guise of getting their graduate degree at UH and trolling the areas where military IT security techs hang out. The befriend these loners with high military security clearance and lovingly “squeeze” the information out of them. This actually happened a few years ago in Hawaii with some lonely former military guy working for a contractor like Booze A. that had high security clearance who met and “fell in love” with this Chinese national female at a military trade show, or whatever, who was supposedly in Hawaii as a grad student with a “hobby” of understanding advanced US military strategy and assets in Asia. Not sure if he was convicted and spending time in prison but the Chinese national is long gone with no trace of her. Also not a stretch that China was increased presence in Hawaii because all of the advanced military assets like US nuclear subs in Pearl, anti-missile missile development on Kauai, etc. Tom Cruise style penetration like how penetrated the Kremlin or Vatican city is bogus but lots of lonely, lone wolf types like Edward Snowden live and work for defense contractors in Hawaii with access to top secret military information susceptible to the late David Bowie’s ‘China girl’.

    • paulokada says:

      China is at war right now and are bombing us with good deals. When we buy their goods we are selling out our country. Time to learn Chinese.

      • dragoninwater says:

        CEO’s have already been sending their kids to school to learn Chinese for years. Given it’s massive population it makes sense to learn a useful language.

  10. justmyview371 says:

    So now west Oahu is turning into luxury resorts, condos, and houses. Residents better move somewhere else.

    • dragoninwater says:

      They should start by moving the bums to Detroit. $1 – $1,000 perfectly habitable homes are perfect for them. Unfortunately, we all know Krook Caldwell won’t do it since he’s extremely busy counting all the brown Aloha envelope money he got from Kiewit at the bank he works part time at.

  11. BlueDolphin53 says:

    I support it. The ground is just lying fallow and is an eye sore as it is. Just scrub land waiting for the next brush fire.

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