A Japan-based company that never followed through with plans to redevelop the 11,000-acre Kealakekua Ranch on the Big Island has put nearly the entire project back on the market at $27 million. Kealakekua Ranch
back on marketStar-Bulletin staff
The property, primarily used for cattle ranching, stretches from the 2,200- to the 6,000-foot elevation above Captain Cook, 16 miles south of Kailua-Kona.
Kealakekua Development Corp. bought the land from the Greenwell family in 1990 for $15 million, state records show. In 1996, the company received zoning and permitting approvals allowing for the development of 503 farm lots with homes, an 18-hole golf course, a 250-acre equestrian center and an 8,400-acre nature preserve for tree farming.
The company did plant several koa and coffee trees and followed through with a logging program, but ran out of financing when the Asian economy went sour in the late 1990s. Kealakekua is affiliated with Tokuju Co., a restaurant operator in Tokyo.
Kealakekua has hired Prudential Orchid Isle Properties to market the real estate. The ranch is fully entitled for development, but requires new roads and water and electrical infrastructure. Several mainland companies have already shown an interest, said real estate representative Joel LaPinta.