LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Planning Commission approved over a year ago a shopping complex in Puhi that includes the island’s second Safeway supermarket and several restaurants and shops.
But the economic crisis may cut the 22-acre project in half before it even starts.
The commission approved Tuesday a request from Safeway to break the development of Hokulei Village in two phases.
“We’ve had difficulty filling phase II, although we’re hoping that with the construction of phase I we’ll get interest and more tenants in phase II,” said attorney Laurel Loo, representing Safeway.
Phase I will include a 57,514-square-foot Safeway supermarket, another major store measuring 14,820 square feet, four restaurants, two shopping complexes, a bank and a gas station.
Most of phase I is scheduled to be completed by 2012. In the following year, the bank and one of the shopping complexes should be finished. In 2014 the largest restaurant, measuring 8,129 square feet, is scheduled to be completed.
If all goes as planned, phase II is scheduled to begin construction in 2013. The project’s second phase will have two major retail shops, measuring 41,104 square feet and 29,948 square feet, respectively, plus a smaller store and three restaurants.
The entire project will have 1,025 parking spaces, and roughly 60 percent of the stalls will be built during phase I.
The developers had agreed, as a condition for approval, to release bonds to finance the building of a roundabout located between phase II and Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, at the intersection of Kaneka and Nuhou streets.
But now that the project is proposed to be broken down into two phases, if the second phase is never built a roundabout may not be needed.
Loo asked commissioners to let her client wait to place the bonds until after phase I is complete.
She said a traffic study showed that the roundabout should be built only if phase II is built, although Safeway is willing to provide financial guarantees that it will be build the roundabout whenever the county wishes it.
“I think it would be a better traffic situation,” said Loo, explaining that the roundabout was primarily designed to accommodate traffic coming out of phase II.
Commission Chair Caven Raco said he would hate to drive around the roundabout if phase II is never built.
If commissioners still wanted the bonds to be released during phase I, Loo said Safeway is willing to do it.
She wasn’t able to answer exactly how much the roundabout would cost, but said it would be probably between $2 million and $4 million.
Nuhou Street runs behind Home Depot, goes around the project’s site and crosses the end of Kaneka Street, before linking to Kaumuali‘i Highway. If phase II is built as planned, there will be a four-way intersection at Kaneka and Nuhou streets where now there’s a T-junction.
The project initially proposed a traffic light in the intersection, but a study called for a roundabout.
“We’d like to operate on trust,” said Planning Director Ian Costa, adding that if the bond is not posted within a certain time the Planning Department could initiate a court order to show cause, which would not “serve Safeway well.”
Besides approving the request from the applicant to divide the project into two phases, commissioners voted to let the applicant release the bonds upon completion of phase I and before construction of phase II begins.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@kauaipubco.com.
