Rezoning approved
for Keauhou project

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii » The state Land Use Commission has approved Kamehameha Investment Corp.'s application to reclassify 487 acres of agricultural land in Keauhou as rural.

Kamehameha Schools' for-profit corporation plans to build a residential subdivision on the land south of Kailua-Kona. The master plan for the 2,400-acre resort area also includes cultural and educational centers, a golf course and additional commercial development.

The rural classification, which was approved yesterday, means home plots would be a minimum of a half-acre and a maximum of three acres.

Kamehameha Investment President Greg Chun said the company has yet to choose a master developer, which would determine how many single-family homes would be built. That announcement is due within three months.

Kamehameha Investment Corp. originally filed a petition to reclassify the land in March 2004. Chun said it is a key part of moving forward with the $800 million project.

The 2,400-acre Keauhou area south of Kailua-Kona includes at least 10 archaeological and historically significant sites, which will be preserved and in some cases restored.

Last year, Kamehameha Schools announced the upgrade of the area over 20 years which calls for Keauhou, first developed in the 1960s, to become more of a traditional Big Island-style resort emphasizing Hawaiian cultural activities.

Kamehameha Schools owns 295,000 acres on the Big Island, including the Keauhou parcel, of which just 700 acres have been developed.