LIHU‘E — The developer of the proposed Kapalawai Resort on Robinson family land in West Kaua‘i unveiled new plans at a Kaua‘i County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday. Among the changes, the developer is proposing to convert an already-approved hotel project
LIHU‘E — The developer of the proposed Kapalawai Resort on Robinson family land in West Kaua‘i unveiled new plans at a Kaua‘i County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday. Among the changes, the developer is proposing to convert an already-approved hotel project into a condominium-hotel project.
The proposed change marked the third time the Kapalawai Resort LLC leaders have asked for changes to the project.
This time around, representatives for the developer said they would like to build a condominium-hotel to address changing taste among visitors who want to travel with their families.
Small kitchens are proposed to be added to 62 of the proposed 188 units, said Lew Geyser, president of Kapalawai, and Scott Ezer, an executive with Helber Hastert & Fee, a Honolulu-based company that specializes in tourism, resort and leisure and recreation master plans.
At a public hearing at the Lihu‘e Civic Center, the men asked the commission to amend county permits to build 126, one-bedroom units and 62, two-bedroom units with small kitchens at the project site.
The entire project would consist of 188 units comprised of 250 rooms, the equivalent number of hotel rooms the developer is entitled to build under the resort zoning approved for the 160-acre project site by the Kauai County Council, Ezer said.
The developer also can build the 250 hotel rooms with the county Planning Commission permits currently approved for the project.
Some commissioners raised concerns over whether the proposed change, if approved, would increase the project’s density, thus potentially creating more adverse impacts on the environment and surrounding areas.
Geyser and Ezer said the density would be the same as the density in the currently-approved hotel project.
“The 188 units absolutely would satisfy the zoning (which allows no more than 250 hotel or resort rooms),” Geyser said.
In a brief interview with The Garden Island after the meeting, Ezer said the proposed change merely amounts to “changing the configuration of the units.”
Geyser said he is seeking a change in the project to march in step with the changing taste of travelers to Hawai‘i and visitor destinations abroad.
“It is a shame we have to come back. But there has been a change in the travel market, and we need to be able to accommodate families,” Geyser said.
Ezer said that since the September 2001 terrorist attacks, parents have felt compelled “to travel with their children.”
People are traveling more with their families and, these days, they need accommodations beyond what is offered in one-bedroom hotel units, Geyser said.
Having the small kitchens in the 62, two-bedroom units will address this need, and help the project become successful, Geyser said.
Approval of the new project would help ensure financing for the multi-million-dollar project, Geyser and Ezer said.
Geyser said the days when lenders will lend money to developers to build strictly hotels are practically over, if they are not already.
“No lenders are willing to make a loan against the entire hotel,” he said. “And they understand the risk as a whole the hotel takes.”
Lenders are more likely to lend money for projects if they know they can recoup their losses from an array of investors, those who would buy condominium-hotel units at the Kapalawai site, for instance, rather than from a sole investor, in this case, the Kapalawai Resort, Geyser said.
Approval of the latest proposal also will allow the project to remain competitive with resorts, hotels and timeshare projects not only Hawai‘i but abroad, Geyser said.
Related to the hotel-condominium project, investors could buy the units and live in them, or rent them out, Geyser said.
The project would be different from an “apartment-condominium project” in that the former would be operated like a hotel and managed like a hotel, Ezer said.
Within the currently-approved project, 129 units will be located in a “transition zone” located just mauka of the coastline within the western portion of the project.
The current proposal before the commission calls for placement of 121 units with the transition zone. Within this zone will be located 42 of the 62, two-bedroom units and single-bedroom units.
The units will contain a living room, kitchenette, washer and dryer, and a maximum interior floor area of 1,000 square feet, and a 333-square-foot lanai.
The other two, two-bedroom units, which are to located in other areas of the project, are proposed to be 1,200 square feet in size, and will be fitted with 400-square-foot lanais.
A mix of two-bedroom and single-bedroom units will be dispersed throughout two other “transition zones” within the project, according to records with the county Planing Department.
The currently approved project allows for the construction of a 2,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, down from an 18,000-square-foot facility envisioned in a resort development plan that was initially approved by commissioners in May 2002.
The current proposal calls for a 10,000-square-foot spa and fitness center.
The new proposal, according to county documents, also recommends placing several structures along the east side of the property closer to a state conservation area.
Along the west side of the project, several structures and parking areas were to be placed slightly more mauka than was allowed under the current permits, a county Planning Department report noted.
The project also calls for a clubhouse, offices, museum, playfields, employee housing and recreation areas.
Commissioner Lawrence Chaffin Jr. said he wanted to make sure there was adequate parking for employees. Geyser said he doesn’t see a problem, because not all the employees will come to work at the same time and require parking spaces.
Those who can’t find designated parking space can park in grassy areas that are available for parking,
Geyser said. Up to 250 or more employees are anticipated to be hired to work at the condominium-hotel.
At the time of the initial approval, in May 2002, planning commissioners approved a Special Management Area Use permit, a project development use permit and a Class IV Zoning Permit.
The permits allowed for a resort of 250 hotel consisting of 164 free-standing units and 86 units in 43 duplex structures.
The cottage-style units were to be a single story, and were not to exceed 800 square feet. Lanais measuring 200 square feet were to be attached to the units.
None of the units were to have small kitchens.
Leaders for Kapalawai approached the commission for changes. County Planning Department officials determined a public hearing was not needed because the changes would not dramatically change the character of the project.
In April 2003, planning commissioners approved the changes, which included building the 2,000-square-foot spa-and-fitness center and relocating the clubhouse and rest rooms and parking from mauka sections of the project to a more makai location.
The commissioners also approved moving housing units away from a transition area around an historic fishpond, which is to be restored, to another transition zone in which is now proposed 121 condominium units.
Ron Kouchi, a former chairman of the Kaua‘i County Council, attended the meeting and was ready to speak in favor of the latest Kapalawai proposal.
He said the rationale used by Geyser for the new project has merit.
Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang @pulitzer.net
