Safeway targets Lihue

The new supermarket would be the second on Kauai and its 20th overall in the state

Safeway is on an expansion track, with plans to build a new retail center in Lihue, Kauai, to be anchored by a new lifestyle grocery store.

Hokulei Village is a new retail center slated for a 22-acre parcel at the junction of Kaumualii Highway and Nuhou Street, west of Kukui Grove Center.

The new Safeway would be the Pleasanton, Calif.-based supermarket chain's second store on Kauai (in addition to the one at Kapaa) and store No. 20 in Hawaii.

Hokulei Village is expected to offer a mix of local and national retail shops, along with banks, offices, two to three sit-down restaurants, possibly a gas station, bicycle racks, a county transit stop, and a 2,150-square-foot community meeting space.

Wendell Brooks III, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis, is the broker handling leases for Hokulei Village.

The new retail center is expected to set a new standard for a community-sensitive and "green" development for Kauai.

Where possible, Safeway says it will use renewable and recycled building materials, minimize construction waste, and use non-potable water for landscaping. Safeway is also exploring a range of renewable energy alternatives for the complex, which have yet to be finalized.

Safeway Vice President Gerry Wolfe said Safeway has installed solar panels on many of its stores, uses a biodiesel truck fleet, and purchases wind power for many of its West Coast facilities.

"Here in Hawaii, we also intend to be a good, green neighbor," said Wolfe.

The new retail center, for instance, will shield its outdoor lighting to protect seabirds that fly over Hokulei Village at night.

Safeway's most recently constructed store is on Kapahulu Avenue on Oahu - its largest store to date at about 64,000 square feet - in a retail center it also developed, called the Avenue Shops at Safeway Center.