Community-driven shopping center breaks ground in Kapolei

Ho‘omaka Marketplace, a community-­driven shopping center where ground lease proceeds will benefit Native Hawaiians in the Kapolei Homestead Community, broke ground Wednesday morning.

The group organizing the market’s creation is the Kapolei Community Development Corp., a grassroots nonprofit that will use the proceeds for education, child care, job creation and the Kapolei Heritage Center, which serves as a family-­learning center and community hub.

“In order for the homestead programs to be successful, we have to generate revenues from some of the lands,” said Gov. David Ige, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony. “This project is meaningful because it’s the homestead community coming together and being responsible for how should we use this parcel in the best way possible to serve the community.”

Having the marketplace within the homestead community is also important for accessibility reasons, Ige said.

The marketplace will be located across the street from the Macy’s side of Ka Makana Ali‘i Shopping Center. Construction begins Monday and is expected to be completed by summer 2023. The marketplace’s anchor tenants will include Longs Drugs, Chick-fil-A, Hele Gas and 7-Eleven.

The marketplace property was awarded to the Kapolei homestead community by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands with the intent that it would be developed and used to provide supporting revenue to the Kapolei Heritage Center, said Scott Abrigo, president of KCDC.

“It’s a sustainable model, and we don’t have to go and write for grants and stuff because now we have a revenue source,” Abrigo said. “Very hard to execute on, but we’re finally here to realize the benefits of that model.”

The Kapolei Heritage Center, which will be funded through marketplace proceeds, recently completed the first phase of its construction. Its certified kitchen and two classrooms already have been used by at least 13,000 people, Abrigo said. The second phase of construction will include a great hall, gallery, storefront and office space.

The marketplace will support kupuna, keiki, parent, ukulele and Hawaiian olelo programs.

Along with Ige, the groundbreaking also was attended by state legislators Sen. Kurt Fevella, Sen. Mike Gabbard and Rep. Sharon Har.

Current and former members of the KCDC board also attended and spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony. They voiced their hopes that the marketplace will be a key community resource for future generations.

“This is much more than just a shopping center,” said former KCDC President Kuhio Lewis. “It’s a means to provide programs and services and support so that we can live on.”