Building overdrive

LIHUE — If everything goes according to plan, Kauai Toyota will be welcoming customers and friends to its new facility at this time next year.

Servco officials and Kauai Toyota staff and friends broke ground on the new facility Friday night at Pahee Street adjacent to the new Acute Care facility and across from the Kauai Community Federal Credit Union.

“This is not April first,” said Mark Fukunaga, Servco chairman of the board and Chief Executive Officer, raising chuckles from the audience. “There has been talk of this project for many years. This is really happening, and it’s not April first.”

Fukunaga described the building, budgeted at between $3.5 million and $4 million with approximately 12,000 square feet under roof, as a “beautiful facility in a good development in the center of Kauai.”

Rick Ching, the Servco COO and EVP, could relate to the “beautiful facility” after spending several years visiting Kauai to get away from work.

“I’m excited about putting together the sales and service department in a single facility,” Ching said. “I started with Servco in 1985, the same year they invested in Kauai Toyota.”

Glenn Takeuchi of Servco said the current building located on Rice Street is under lease and, with only a slight overlap, will re-locate to the Pahee Street address. 

The current service location in the Lihue Industrial Park will also join the sales facility.

Abraham Akutagawa of CR Design & Construction, a Kauai firm that recently opened near the Sudz car wash, said a lot of the work will be done by Kauai companies and workers, including Kauai Builders.

“This is exciting,” said Kamuela Cobb-Adams of the Kauai County Housing Agency. “Look at all the black dust screens. Puhi is booming! Having construction such as this Kauai Toyota facility is critical because it puts people to work. This, in turn, puts money in their pockets which they can use to buy houses — and new trucks.”