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About 2,000 acres in Waiawa once largely planted in sugar cane is envisioned for a community with 11,109 homes under a conceptual plan by the state’s largest private landowner.
Kamehameha Schools is seeking to develop the project — which also includes five public schools, parks, more than a half-million square feet of commercial space and 51 farm lots — with a partner over nearly 50 years.
Described as “a community for a better tomorrow,” the project rivals the size of Ho‘opili, a 11,750-home community on 1,554 acres in an early phase of construction on the Ewa plain by development firm D.R. Horton.
The easily more than $4 billion Waiawa plan represents a dramatic expansion and revision of a plan for much of the site by Gentry Homes approved in 1988 and dropped in 2009.
Gentry’s plan involved 7,906 homes largely around two golf courses and other uses on 1,395 acres. Half the homes were to be for seniors. But daunting infrastructure costs and two economic downturns doomed the project after more than two decades of pursuit.
The new plan, according to Kamehameha Schools, is more focused on the kamaaina market and concentrates many of the homes more densely near the city’s future Pearl Highlands rail station a little over a half-mile from the makai edge of the Waiawa property.
To proceed, Kamehameha Schools will need to secure a development partner, refine plan details, produce an environmental study and obtain state and county land-use changes.
Infrastructure challenges also still exist, given that the property includes gulches that make access difficult. Kamehameha Schools estimates infrastructure costs at $630 million.
The trust anticipates that it could be 10 years before construction starts if goals are met.
“This is a very complex endeavor,” said Walter Thoemmes, manager of commercial real estate for the trust. “The plan is ambitious.”
Thoemmes made his comments Thursday in a presentation to the state Land Use Commission. The LUC wanted to see a master plan for the area as part of considering a Kamehameha Schools request to amend the commission’s 2014 approval for two solar farms on 655 acres of the site as a 35-year interim use after Gentry’s effort failed.
The solar farms initially were expected to be completed in 2016, but a renewable-energy company pursuing them filed for bankruptcy. That enabled Kamehameha Schools to reassess and accelerate its timetable for residential development.
Solar farms are still part of an interim use ranging from 20 to 35 years on the property, and a reconfigured arrangement for the solar farms was approved Thursday by the LUC.
Kamehameha Schools envisions developing the community in five phases, starting at the makai end between Pearl City and Waipahu.
An initial phase envisions 2,024 homes, 324,326 square feet of commercial space, an elementary school, 20 farm lots and a park developed from 2030 to 2040.
A second phase also relatively close to the transit station calls for 2,338 homes, a middle school, an elementary school, park areas, eight farm lots and 56,445 square feet of commercial space developed from 2038 to 2048.
The third phase calls for 2,636 homes, a high school, 83,452 square feet of commercial space and a park done from 2046 to 2060.
Phase 4 includes 1,436 homes and 24,346 square feet of commercial space done from 2056 to 2066.
The last phase would include 2,675 homes, an elementary school, 70,097 square feet of commercial space, parks and 23 farm lots done from 2062 to 2076.
One solar farm would be in an area important for groundwater recharge and not used later for development. The other solar farm would exist on land slated for the third and fourth phases.
Kamehameha Schools anticipates filing a petition with the LUC in 2024 seeking to amend the commission’s 1988 approval for the Gentry plan and to reclassify another 476 acres of agricultural land for urban use in the new project.
Part of the reason the trust accelerated its time frame for residential development on the Waiawa site is to alleviate pressure on rising home prices because of relatively little new supply. More homes will help meet demand that keeps prices affordable for more of the population, including Native Hawaiians, Thoemmes said.
“We’re very interested to get this going,” he said.
Developing Waiawa also is aimed at producing income that helps the charitable trust spend more money on its core education mission for Hawaiians.
At Thursday’s LUC meeting, Chairman Jonathan Scheuer expressed some concern about the notion of approving a plan covering five decades. But he also appreciated that the plan was very different from Gentry’s.
“It’s such a gift that Gentry failed, in many ways,” he said.
BY THE NUMBERS
Waiawa master plan
Total area: 2,010 acres
Homes: 11,109
Commercial space: 558,666 square feet
Public schools: 5
Farm lots: 51
Park space: 134 acres
Open space: 371 acres
Development timetable: 2030-2076
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