Development plans delayed

LIHUE — Kauai residents and visitors may have to wait a little longer before they can see the Hokulei Village shopping center in Lihue come to fruition.

When work on the 14.25-acre complex broke ground in February, project developers and company officials from Safeway, the shopping center’s anchor tenant, pledged to have part of the shopping center open as early as the end of this year.

Now, developers say it will open some time next summer but have declined to explain what has delayed construction.

“We are excited for the opening of Hokulei Village Shopping Center next year, and look forward to serving the island of Kauai,” Gerry Wolfe, Property Development Centers vice president for development, wrote in an email.

The first phase of the Hokulei Village shopping center now under construction is slated to include a 56,000-square-foot Safeway Lifestyle store, a Walgreens pharmacy, a Petco pet supply store and a Jack in the Box restaurant, according to current plans. Other tenants outlined in the plans include a fuel station, a major financial institution and other restaurants.

“Aside from the tenants already announced, we are also working with a number of shop tenants to enter the project, including quick-service and sit-down restaurants, personal services, and general retail,” Wolfe said.These will be announced as leases are signed.”

Located across the street from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, the Hokulei Village project has been in the works since 2008 and includes infrastructure improvements to surrounding county roadways, including a roundabout at Nuhou and Kaneka Streets, which is scheduled to be completed by mid-January.

Wolfe declined, however, to say how much the entire project or the roadway improvements alone will cost.

“The costs for this project are of a proprietary nature and we cannot release the cost of the project,” Wolfe wrote in an email.