Tag Archives: The Villages At Aina Le’a

January 20, 2012

Palani Road Traffic Congestion Update

By Aaron Stene

Traffic flow on or around the Henry Street/Palani Road intersection will be adjusted effective for the next two months. The first change, which involved closing the left turn lane at the top of Henry Street, was implemented Friday afternoon. Then Nan plans to close the mauka bound lane on Palani between Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Henry Street on Tuesday. These changes hopefully will ease the traffic congestion in this area.

The manager, who is overseeing the Palani water transmission project provided this update regarding the incomplete fencing around the new Palani Road water tank.

“I spoke to the contractor this morning and he let me know he is working on getting a fencing sub-contractor out there to finish the fencing. He said it should be installed by the end of next month but could possibly be done within two weeks. I met with the contractor’s representative at the site last Thursday and we developed a check list of items that needed to be done before the project could be given final approval. The fencing was one of the primary items we discussed.”

I’m very unhappy with the recent changes to the West Hawaii Today website. For starters, I couldn’t access any archived article published in 2011- until tonight. On top of that, their older archives (before May 16, 2011) is only accessible if you pay.

I spoke to assistant Corporation Counsel Katherine Garson, who is overseeing the La’aloa Avenue extension condemnations, this week. The second condemnation lawsuit was filed with the Court late last week. However, they haven’t processed the filing yet. I’ll hopefully follow-up with her next week.

Lastly, Steve Dunnington made  several irritating comments at the recent island economic summit meeting.

“Steve Dunnington, a developer whose projects include DW Aina Lea, questioned whether education was the right focus of the job creation discussion.

“This isn’t an immediate help to sort of fix the economy,” Dunnington said. “It’s long-term, long-range. As far as things happening to change the current economic situation? Make Hawaii more business friendly.”

Mr. Dunnington really needs to look in the mirror before he starts complaining. The problems facing his latest project, The Villages at Aina Le’a, can be traced back to insufficient financing, not Hawaii’s business climate.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Transportation

December 30, 2011

The Kona Blog’s Top 2011 Stories

By Aaron Stene

These are the Kona Blog’s top five stories from 2011:

1. March 11, 2011 Japan tsunami

2. Judge Strance’s December 16th, 2011 ruling, which reversed the LUC’s land classification reversion of The Villages at Aina Le’a project

3. The completion of the Mamalahoa (Hokuli’a) Bypass is assured. It was held up by 1250 Oceanside Partners financial problems and the Coupes decision to block the condemnation of part of their land for this roadway

4. Queen Kaahumanu Highway widening delays. This project is now slated to begin in April 2012

5. Saddle Road improvements continue. Kirkland Construction of Colorado recently started the next phase of this project.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Transportation

December 29, 2011

Ane Keohokalole Highway Project Update

By Aaron Stene

Nan’s concrete subcontractor completed the second segment of concrete pavement on the Ka’u side of Palani Road on Wednesday. The concrete has to cure for up to 14 days. Then they’ll start on the next phase, which entails rerouting traffic to the new Ka’u bound lanes, demolishing the Kohala side lanes and pouring additional cement.

Nan is slated to begin concrete paving between the Henry Street intersection and the West Hawaii Civic Center starting on January 9th, 2012.

The project manager, who is overseeing the Palani water transmission project, provided this update regarding the incomplete fencing around the new Palani Road water tank.

“I just spoke to our inspector earlier today and he said the contractor still hasn’t procured the materials for the fencing, despite what we were told would happen a couple of weeks ago. Also, the contractor’s foreman was unable to tell our inspector when the owner will be purchasing the fence materials. I’ll check with the contractor again let you know what they say.”

The Villages at Aina Le’a‘s Facebook page admin summarily deleted three comments I recently posted. I stated the project still faces two outstanding lawsuits (Goodfellow Brothers and Mauna Lani Resort Association). Goodfellow is seeking reimbursement for unpaid construction work and Mauna Lani Resort Association is trying to invalidate the project’s FEIS. Nevertheless, these facts were pushed under rug, so the focus was directed on their recent legal victory.

I strongly believe the State of Hawaii should appeal Judge Strance’s ruling, which turned the Land Use Commission into a paper tiger. This decision curtailed the commission’s ability to hold developers accountable if they don’t comply with all conditions and promises.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Transportation

December 19, 2011

Goodfellow Brothers Suing Aina Le’a LLC

By Aaron Stene

Goodfellow Brothers filed a lawsuit against Aina Le’a LLC, etc on November 15th, 2011. They constructed the incomplete backbone infrastructure for The Villages at Aina Le’a project. DW Aina Le’a Development LLC, which is affiliated with Aina Le’a LLC and is one of the defendants in this lawsuit, owes Goodfellow Brothers at least 1.64 million dollars for work rendered. I haven’t seen Goodfellow’s complaint, but it wouldn’t surprise me they’re trying to get them to pay up.

Aina Le’a apparently stopped paying Goodfellow a share of each investment made by Asian investors, according to this West Hawaii Today article.

These Asian investors, who bought a share of these condominium units, will be the ultimate losers. They likely won’t see a return on their investment despite being promised a 30% return over thirty months.

Lastly, Judge Strance issued a surprise ruling on Friday reversing the LUC’s land classification reversion of the Aina Le’a development and remanding it back to the State Land Use Commission.

This ruling was totally unexpected. I didn’t expect her to issue it so soon. Ho’ohiki stated oral arguments were scheduled to start on December 16th, 2011. In addition, she denied DW Aina Le’a Development’s motion to delay the LUC reclassification on September 26th, 2011.

This ruling will likely affect the outcome of Bridge Aina Le’a LLC’s December 19th, 2011 Court hearing in Federal Court. The judge is slated to hear the state’s motion requesting the Court dismiss Bridge’s lawsuit. In addition, it likely strengthens Bridge Aina Le’a LLC’s 35.7 million dollar claim against the State LUC.

I don’t necessarily agree Judge Strance made the right decision. Aina Le’a deliberately failed to abide by the LUC’s imposed conditions and haven’t paid their contractors in a timely manner.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Technology, Hawaii Transportation

December 17, 2011

Judge Strance Reverses LUC’s Land Classification Reversion Of The Villages At Aina Le’a Development

By Aaron Stene

Breaking news: Judge Strance reverses the LUC’s decision to revert the land classification for The Villages at Aina Le’a project and remands it back to the State Land Use Commission on Friday.  West Hawaii Today published an article today, which goes into greater detail about this significant ruling.

Honolulu Civil Beat’s article contained several inaccurate statements regarding this decision. However, Bruce Voss, Bridge Aina Le’a LLC’s lawyer, makes an interesting comment regarding Judge Strance’s ruling in the same Civil Beat article.

“Late this afternoon, in a rather historic decision, Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Strance reversed the Land Use Commission, and ordered the LUC to void both its Order to Show Cause and its Final Order reclassifying the Aina Lea property to agricultural use. Judge Strance found that the LUC violated its governing statute, HRS 205, violated due process, and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Judge Strance stated that the LUC had lost sight of its mission in this case. Assuming the Project can still get financing after the delays caused by the LUC’s action, the Project can now resume. The LUC’s illegal action had created a dark cloud not just over the Aina Lea Project, but all major development projects in Hawaii.”

I’ll go into greater detail regarding this decision in Monday’s blog posting.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics

December 9, 2011

Ane Keohokalole Highway Project Update

By Aaron Stene

Nan won’t start paving the Henry Street to West Hawaii Civic Center segment of the Ane Keohokalole Highway until early January. They were planning to start on December 19th, but the arrival of the specialized concrete paving equipment was delayed again.

Nan also won’t be resurfacing the mauka bound lane on Palani Road, according to the DPW’s manager for this project. This was simply a miscommunication on the part of the county. They still intend to demolish the mauka bound lane and pour concrete after the Ka’u side lanes are completed.

O’oma Beachside Village‘s window to appeal Judge Ibarra’s ruling, which upheld the State Land Use Commission’s rejection of OBV’s land reclassification petition, expired on November 13th, 2011. They had 30 days to file an appeal, but decided not to.

HOVE’s new water facility is encountering serious electrical issues, according to the November 22nd, 2011 Board of Water Supply meeting minutes. I hope HELCO, the contractor and DWS can iron out this problem, so it can open soon.

Lastly, the developers of the Villages at Aina Le’a project have two important Court hearings coming up. Judge Susan Oki Molloway is slated to hear the State’s motion requesting dismissal of Bridge Aina Le’a LLC’s lawsuit against the State Land Use Commission on December 19th, 2011. In addition, Judge Elizabeth Strance has scheduled oral arguments for DW Aina Le’a Development LLC’s lawsuit against the State Land Use Commission on December 16th, 2010.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Transportation

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