A largely deserted piece of the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station in Kalaeloa is being prepared for re-population as part of a plan to build the first new homes in the area since the military base closed in 1999.

Hunt Communities Hawaii LLC expects to start paving the way later this year for a 675-home subdivision by improving three miles of roads in the northwest corner of the old base.

The affiliate of Texas-based development firm Hunt Cos. plans to spend an estimated $50 million on roadwork that will add sidewalks, storm drains and landscaping to seven streets that also will be widened.

Hunt also plans to build a few new streets in the subdivision, make one new connection to neighboring Kapolei and help manage traffic in the region by adding turning lanes and traffic signals to several intersections in Kapolei.

The planned subdivision represents a big step toward fulfilling Hunt’s master plan to add 4,000 new homes, retail outlets, light-industrial businesses and recreational spaces to 540 acres it owns in Kalaeloa.

“For the past decade, Hunt has been committed to investing in Kalaeloa to restore and upgrade the area’s infrastructure and to creating an economic engine for the area and its residents,” Steve Colon, development president for Hunt in Hawaii, said in a statement. “We intend to build a strong mixed-use master-planned community with a clear identity as Kalaeloa.”

Hunt acquired its former base lands from the Navy in 2009. Other parts of the 3,700-acre base, including Kalaeloa Airport, were given to the state and city while the Navy also retained some property that includes Barbers Point Golf Course.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency charged with regulating development in Kalaeloa, produced a broader conceptual development plan in 2006 that envisions 6,350 homes and a business district generating 7,000 new jobs for all the land conveyed by the Navy.

Guided by the state plan, Hunt unveiled the master plan for its land in 2013. Since then the company has converted an abandoned barracks building into 100 affordable rental apartments in 2015 and acquired former Navy water and wastewater systems in 2017. Roughly 50 businesses employing about 500 people also have moved onto Hunt lands.

The estimated cost for the road improvements represents one of the biggest financial investments in the area by Hunt to date.

As for residential construction, which would cover 60 acres, Hunt intends to sell prepared lots to other developers. Hunt anticipates that developing all 675 homes would take about five years.

Other parts of the subdivision include a site for a future Veterans’ Administration clinic, while two schools — Barbers Point Elementary and American Renaissance Academy — already exist within the area.

Land slated for homes largely consists of property that was filled with military housing for much of the time the base was operating. Those homes, however, were not well maintained by the Navy, and most were demolished.

Hunt expects it should be able to start on the roadwork in the second half of this year and finish the job in about two years.

Details of the company’s road improvement plan were published in an environmental assessment recently filed with the state.

Road improvements would largely focus on two main arteries, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Saratoga avenues, the latter of which Hunt envisions turning into “main street” in its master plan.

Smaller roads slated for upgrades are Franklin and Bennington streets and Hornet and Copahee avenues. A new road would be added to extend Kamo­kila Boulevard into Kalaeloa makai of Costco. One new connection to Kapolei also is planned with an anticipated extension of Wakea Street into Kalaeloa near the planned subdivision’s eastern end.

Currently, many of the streets are in poor condition and are bordered by grass or crushed coral. All the improved streets would meet city standards, the report said.

In Kapolei, planned improvements to intersections include adding a second left-turn lane at Kapolei Parkway and Kalaeloa Boulevard, and adding a second left-turn lane and additional through lane at Kapolei Parkway and Fort Barrette Road. Traffic signals would be installed at Fort Barrette Road and Franklin D. Roosevelt Avenue, at Wakea Street and Kapolei Parkway and at Franklin D. Roosevelt Avenue and Kamokila Parkway.