Proposed project on site adjacent to Malu-ulu-o-Lele was opposed
The Maui News
Friday, September 20, 2002
LAHAINA — Maui County has bought nearly 19,000 square feet of land adjacent to Malu-ulu-o-Lele Park — site of Moku‘ula, the historic home of Hawaiian royalty — to block a commercial development on the site.
Finance Director Wesley Lo said the county paid almost $4 million to acquire land from JDI Ltd., which had planned its Harbor Village commercial project on the site at 576 Front St.
The deal closed on Wednesday.
The commercial project was opposed by the West Maui community and by the Friends of Moku‘ula, a nonprofit group working to restore the culturally significant site buried under ball fields at a neighboring park.
The money to purchase the property was from a $25.8 million bond issue floated earlier this month. County officials plan to pay off the portion of the bond used to purchase the property by charging for parking at an existing parking lot that will be expanded.
To do that, the county would acquire a nearby 38,500-square-foot property owned by the Richardson family of Oahu and a 15,000-square-foot parcel owned by the Catholic Church.
Paid parking is not expected to begin before the start of next year.
Approximately $11 million of the bond issue was used to pay for new projects, including the West Maui senior center, drainage projects in Kaunakakai, repair of bridges along Hana Highway and other projects, Lo said.
The bond’s interest rate was 3.521 percent, he said, describing that as a “very good rate” made possible by the county’s good credit rating. Over the life of the 20-year bond, the county should save $850,000 by refinancing much of its old debt, Lo said.
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