New owners to
restart Ko Olina
development
The scaled-down plans include
Star-Bulletin staff
housing, a sports club
and a marinaA private partnership with development experience in Hawaii and on the mainland has purchased the remaining undeveloped 344 acres of the first phase of the Ko Olina Resort in West Oahu and plans to develop housing, a marina, a sports club and a town center.
Ko Olina Partners LLC, headed by developers Jeff Stone and Kevin Showe, said the structures will be a mixture of plantation, cottage, Mediterranean and missionary styles, built around the marina, the existing golf course and four new sheltered lagoons.
The developers said the architecture will stress old-style Hawaii living without high-rises or the flashy style of some modern resorts.
The development, to be called Ko Olina Resort & Marina, will include a clubhouse, a restaurant and a shopping area, tennis facilities, a health spa, a central park and tropical gardens, the developers said yesterday. The purchase from West Beach Associates includes an option to buy another 372 acres in Phase II of the overall Ko Olina development.
Ko Olina's original developer, Herbert Horita, announced ambitious plans for the property in the late 1980s, including up to 11 hotels, luxury condominiums and about 5,000 homes. Horita and a Japanese partner, the construction giant Kumagai Gumi Co., broke ground in November 1986.
An 18-hole golf course, some luxury condominiums and one hotel, the Ihilani Resort & Spa, were developed but Horita's Japanese financing for the rest of the project was withdrawn.
The developed sites, including the hotel property, are not included in the acreage bought by Ko Olina Partners.
The new partnership said they plan to provide a base for Hawaii's entry for the America's Cup yacht race, Abracadabra 2000, at the new marina. The yacht will compete in New Zealand in the year 2000. Its presence will generate attention for Hawaii, the developers said.
They also said they expect their enhancement of the resort and the jobs it will provide will be an added boost for the nearby "second city" of Oahu, Kapolei.
