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It's the first time since the '80s
By Russ Lynch
that an outside firm has planned
a major housing project here
Star-BulletinA Canada-based home builder said today it will buy nearly 75 acres at the Ko Olina Resort & Marina to build 700 new homes, marking the first time since the late 1980s that a major out-of-state company will launch a large residential development in Hawaii.
The project is by Brookfield Homes Southland Inc., a Costa Mesa, Calif., subsidiary of Toronto-based Brookfield Properties. It will be on three parcels: one of 30 acres and a neighboring 33-acre piece fronting the Ko Olina Golf Club near the entrance to the resort off Farrington Highway, and a separate 11.2-acre lot at the Honolulu end of the resort.
The land price was not disclosed.
Jeffrey Prostor, president of Brookfield Homes Southland, said he expects the total value of the mix of condominiums, town homes, duplexes and single-family homes to be worth about $350 million. He said construction will start before the end of this year and development will progress according to market demand.
While the land deal has not yet been finalized, Jeffrey R. Stone, co-manager of the resort's owner, Ko Olina Co. LLC, said the resort and Brookfield have been working on plans for more than a year.
The sale to Brookfield is the latest in a series of big moves at the 1,000-acre West Oahu resort that promise to provide thousands of jobs and about $1 billion of investment.
In October, Ko Olina Co. formed a partnership with an arm of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance to buy the 387-room Ihilani Resort & Spa and the Ko Olina Golf Club from a Japan Airlines subsidiary.
Management units of Marriott International Inc. came in to manage the hotel and golf course, Marriott's first venture into the Oahu market.
Last month another part of the Marriott organization, Marriott Vacation Club International, bought a 30-acre parcel at the resort for $30 million and announced plans for a 750-villa time-share development worth about $300 million.
The resort's 43-acre, 270-slip marina is due to open in March.
Ko Olina developer Stone said he and his Hawaii and mainland partners spent about 18 months looking for a suitable developer for the major residential development.
Stone had contact with about 50 developers and when he saw what he called a perfect oceanfront residential community on the West Coast developed by Brookfield, he pushed them to come to Ko Olina. He said he liked Brookfield's village-like approach and approves of their desire to mix out-of-state sales with local sales to make a new community where visitors can mingle with residents, he said.
Brookfield Properties, a publicly traded company, has been building homes across North America since 1956 and last year had sales of $670 million.
The last outside home developer to build a major project in Hawaii was Watt Homes, a unit of California-based WL Homes, which built 812 homes in the Kapolei over 10 years. Watt Homes announced in December it was leaving the islands.
