On June 11th, Princeville at Hanalei (formerly known as Princeville Corporation) gave a presentation to a gathering of the North Shore realtors of Kauai to talk about the status of development on the North Shore and specifically the Princeville at Hanalei projects.
Jay Furfaro, one of our Kauai County Council representatives, Francis Oda, and Dee Crowell all spoke to the audience and fielded questions at the end of the 40 minute presentation. Jay, whose children are sixth generation Hawaiians, started off the meeting with a little bit of North Shore history that I found most interesting. Jay is the keeper of records for Gomez Ohana of Hanalei. His wife of 30 years, Ema Gomez, was raised in Hanalei, Kaua`i. The Gomez family descended from one of the original Princeville cowboys, Louis Antonio Domingo Gomez. Jay and Ema, have three children Nicole, Jennifer and Marissa. All three young women are graduates of Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawai`i.
With a resort background, including twelve years of service for ITT Sheraton, Jay was hired by the new Princeville at Hanalei as an operating officer back in 2005.
The key objectives Jay Furfaro described when discussing the Princeville Ranch in somewhat broader terms are:
1. To sustain and create a ranch community which honors the land, heritage and history of Princeville at Hanalei.
2. Utilize concepts of sustainable development principles that are based on sound economic models with connectivity to our local community, and promote stewardship of the land.
Regarding the sustainability perspective, Princeville at Hanalei nurtures a native Hawaiian forest, with the assistance of staff and employees.
The Princeville Ranch was the focus of this particular presentation. Princeville Ranch is one of the oldest working cattle ranches in Hawai with its historical roots pre-dating those of the American Old West. For over 175 years, the ranch has been operating. Beef from the ranch used to be shipped to California back in the gold rush days.
As with so many industries these days, with the high cost of transporting everything and the low cost of beef, the Princeville Ranch is a marginal operation. Thus, the idea has evolved to create a 17 lot agricultural subdivision. So, Princeville at Hanalei has applied for the initial permits to create this subdivision. The lots themselves may then be condominiumized (CPR”d) to ultimately create a density of up to 75 homes. See the map below to see where the target pieces for this project is.These 17 lots are described as Princeville Ranch Makai.
Then mauka of the highway, where the mauka village and affordable housing was supposed to be, there will be another 10-12 mutli-acre homesites. The owners in these two project will become equity owners of the Princeville Ranch with the notion that the Carswell family, the family that currently runs the ranch, will continue to do so. The map refers to these as Princeville Ranch Mauka.
So in the spirit of sustainability, the notion is to find like-minded individuals who desire to become a model of a sustainable community. From the road design to the drainage plan for water runoff, each aspect of this development is being scrutinized for its adherence to sustainability for the long term.
This project may take several years to get off the ground. Of course, the affordable housing piece which was expected to be built in the mauka village, still has not been built and this is a source of frustration to the community and the employees of Princeville at Hanalei. Many of these long-time employees must commute from a fairly long distance away.
Two additional projects, the Greens and the Meadows, are also land development projects of Princeville at Hanalei. The Greens are approximately 36 residential lots with views of the ocean and mountains. Unlike most Princeville lots of 9,000 -12,000 sq. ft., these lots are around 15,000 sq. ft per lot. A new road will parallel the highway leading from the Prince Course Clubhouse to the Fountain through the Greens. These lots will probably not released in the current real estate market although the roads and infrastructure have been completed for some time. The Meadows is another 200+ home sites located as its name applies, in the meadows just below the greens. The work on this project has barely begun.
Finally, in what is referred to as the Central Plateau area just east of the Prince Golf Course, there is another cluster of land that is slated for development in the future.
If you know of someone committed to “green living” and who would value owning an equity stake in the Princeville Ranch, keep your ears and eyes open to watch the evolution of this project over the next several years.
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