Pahoa getting a new shopping mall

[macuu222]

Sounds like a major grocery store, a McDonalds (probably)...and much more. 9.3 acres and a 20 million dollar project on land owned by Bryson Cinders.

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/

[EightFingers]

Would be nice if "major grocery store" = Sams Club*!


*Or Costco!

[Seeb]

Who about people protest for something for a change

C
O
S
T
C
O
Costco
Costco
Costco

[Seeb]

Or any of the discount places
Spending a day and all that gas to go to kona kind of cancels a lot of the
Savings

[KeaauRich]

Probably the KTA that was originally planned for Orchidland

[Rob Tucker]

I am very pleased to read that Bryson's and the developer are very interested in involving the Pahoa community in the design.

[Bullwinkle]

Let us hope they theme the strip mall not to look like another Cali development.

Thats my bi*tch about the target and Safeway - I cant tell whether I am on the big island or one of the cloned cali strip malls - that cushy vinyl flooring the topper - grin

I stopped by there once - and happily returned to the foodland - feels much more like "home" to me

Cali type strip malls have no soul - sterile and disgusting imho

[pahoated]

This was a rumor a couple of weeks ago. Cali strip mall type franchises re-use their spec plans to save money. That rumor seemed to indicate the developers were very mindful of the Pahoa ambiance and were going to be seeking inputs from community citizens. It didn't sound like the main stores had been finalized yet.

[ericlp]

The $20 million project at 15-2714 Pahoa Village Road would include a supermarket, medical and dental facilities, as well as other retail.

But in addition to new shopping, land owner Bryson Kuwahara is also offering a roundabout at the intersection of the Pahoa bypass and and Pahoa Village Road and an opportunity to weigh in on the shopping center’s design and amenities, said Jon McElvaney, a consultant on the project with Inoue Hawaii Realty Corp.

McElvaney said the proposed shopping center is intended to “reflect the history of Pahoa town,” but to accomplish that goal, Pahoa residents will be asked to submit recommendations.

That will be done, he said, through public meetings and email.

The project is still in its early stages and no meetings have been scheduled.

An email address will be set up at a later date, McElvaney said.

He called it a “design by community” approach to make it “livable and convenient, and a nice place to go for families.”

The shopping center would be 104,250 square feet.

The property is zoned agriculture, and Kuwahara has submitted a zoning change request to Hawaii County to change the property designation to urban.

The zoning request for the 9.93-acre lot is one of the first steps Kuwahara has to take.

Kuwahara didn’t return a request for comment Monday.

The county Planning Commission will consider the request as early as October, said Daryn Aria, county planning program manager.

The shopping center would be located on the mauka side of the road near other commercial properties that include Long’s and Malama Market.

If approved, the project would also need building permits and final approval from the Planning Department.

Aria said the approval process takes about six months to complete, though that can vary.

McElvaney said construction would begin sometime next year.

The project is currently proposing a supermarket (40,000 square feet), garden center (10,000 square feet), family medical clinic (11,250 square feet), restaurant (5,000 square feet), high-turnover restaurant (3,000 square feet), medical/dental facility (5,000 square feet), rental/general merchandise (15,000 square feet), paint/hardware (10,000 square feet), and specialty retail (10,000 square feet).

McElvaney said businesses have expressed interest in occupying the supermarket and medical facilities, but he declined to identify them.

He said the supermarket would employ about 250 people and be larger than the Malama Market and Island Naturals, also located in Pahoa.

About 400 people would work at the shopping center, McElvaney said.

The property has been used as a base yard for Bryson’s Cinders for the last 30 years, according to the rezone application.

The project would also involve widening 600 feet of Pahoa Village Road, extending Kahakai Boulevard by 600 feet to create a main entrance, and the installation of a four-way traffic signal.

Don't know about you but I think an average costco size is about 150,000 sqft not a measly 40K sqft, so you can rule out costco. However even so, this is pretty good news for Pahoa. Will be interesting to see what goes on and I can almost guarantee that a Mcd's will be a given even tho I think it's really not needed but ah well! Still can hope for a sams / costco going in elsewhere I guess.

[Kahunascott]

McElvaney is the same project manager that built Woodlands Center.
40K SF is only 10K SF larger than Longs, so it ain't going to be much bigger then Malama Market.

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it cost when it’s free...now here come the taxes.....