Oprah’s
Hana land buy
draws local praise

The celebrity says that she
will preserve the fishing rights
and conserve the land

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

Television celebrity Oprah Winfrey and an associate are buying 105 acres in Hana that include the historical Ka Iwi O Pele geological feature and the old Mokae Point landing.

Hana Ranch Partners is pleased with the sale because Winfrey and her friend and personal trainer, Robert Greene, have promised they will conserve the environment and open space of the area, said Dan Omer, Hana Ranch chief operating officer.

Greene first contacted Hana Ranch about one lot it had for sale in the Hamoa residential area, Omer said.

"It became apparent that Miss Winfrey and the Hana Ranch Partners shared cultural and environmental concerns, and that she would be a sensitive, committed steward of the land," Omer wrote in a letter sent Friday to everyone with a Hana Post Office Box.

The letter was to tell the community of Hana (about 1,000 residents in Hana town and 2,000 more in the district) what was happening, Omer said yesterday. Community response so far has been relief, he said.

"The most immediate concerns that (residents have) expressed was that there be continued access for the local Hana community for fishing" through the 102-acre parcel at Lehoula, Omer said.

"Upon reflection, there is some delight in the fact the lands are not going to be subdivided," he added. Former owners of Hana Ranch had considered subdividing the area, leading to worries that the view would be blocked by development and shoreline access would be restricted.

Greene will build a house on one of six residential lots in Hamoa and Winfrey will build a guest house on another. Four of those lots, including the one containing the old landing at Mokae Point, will be left vacant, Omer said.

Winfrey expects to build a house for herself on the 102 acres north of Hamoa, at Lehoula.

Omer said he would not disclose the price of the purchases, which he said is actually two separate deals with Greene and Winfrey. A third sale to Winfrey, which does not involve Hana Ranch land, remains under negotiation, he said.

Winfrey has visited in Hana before and, like a number of other celebrities, enjoyed the relative anonymity residents afford the famous, Omer said.

"If the ranch needed to sell the land, I think they couldn't have found a better buyer than Oprah Winfrey," said longtime Hana resident Bill-John Medeiros, who owns property adjacent to the Hamoa lots.

"The reason I say that is ... her plans to keep most of it in conservation, keep as much open space as possible and to honor the beach access that fishermen in Hana have used for generations."

Another move that pleases locals is that Winfrey reportedly will not disturb the area around the cinder cone called Ka Iwi O Pele, where the volcano goddess Pele's bones are said to rest.

Medeiros is pleased that Winfrey will grant his extended family continued use of some of the land she is buying that is adjacent to his. Family luaus and other events will continue to be held there, he said, with one stipulation written into the agreement: "from time to time they wanted to be invited to some of the luaus."