The Hawaii Law Enforcement Federal Credit Union will celebrate its grand opening next week of a larger and modernized headquarters and main branch that comes after more than four years of planning, design and construction.

HLEFCU completed the move this week to its new facility at 1936 S. King St. from its former offices on the third floor at 1537 Young St., located about a half-mile away at a site it had occupied since 1981. The new branch began serving customers on Tuesday.

The credit union, which has more than 14,800 members, assets of more than $213 million and a staff of 43 employees, purchased the 26,773-square-foot property in July 2018. HLEFCU began developing plans to build a new facility from the ground up and incorporate high-tech resources and significantly more interior space to better serve its members and house all employees in one location. The demolition of the property’s prior structure and construction of the financial institution’s new facility began in June 2020.

“We made this investment in order to better serve the financial needs of our dedicated law enforcement ‘ohana and their families,” HLEFCU President and CEO Rene Matsuura said in a statement. “The enhanced amenities, increase in interior space and meeting rooms, and convenience of our new main branch makes this a much more inviting setting for members to come in and discuss how HLEFCU can continue to help take care of their financial needs.”

HLEFCU, founded in 1937 as the Honolulu Police Federal Credit Union, serves the financial needs of current and retired law enforcement officers and their family members, offering a range of banking services, loans, mortgages, checking, savings and retirement accounts.

Matsuura said HLEFCU’s membership, assets and staff have all steadily increased over the years, necessitating a larger and better facility to serve the current and future needs of members.

The new headquarters and main branch facility, which has 14,158 square feet of interior space, is more than 60% larger than the previous location. The main branch area for conducting daily business is much larger and there are two new private meeting rooms and two new semi- private booths for members to review their accounts, discuss loan programs and evaluate opportunities to support their financial needs. Each room and booth have an interactive display allowing members to review financial information in a private and secure setting.

In addition to the main branch, HLEFCU also has branches in Kapolei and Pearl City, and at the main Honolulu Police Department station on Beretania Street. HLEFCU also offers CO-OP Shared Branch services, meaning members of other credit unions can use HLEFCU branches for deposits and withdrawals for free.

Matsuura said the new location is a notable upgrade compared with the previous site because there are 25 parking spaces for members, more than twice as many as the former location. The financial institution also can be accessed from the street level instead of having members use a single elevator to go up to the third floor, as was the case before.

“We appreciate the support and patience of our members as we have gone through this detailed process to find a great location, and then design and build a modernized facility that puts their needs as our foremost priority,” Matsuura said. “We take tremendous pride in our mission to support our brave law enforcement officers and their families and this new facility reflects our commitment to them.”

The additional space at the new headquarters also allows all of HLEFCU’s headquarter and main branch employees to work together at the same location. As HLEFCU increased its staff in recent years to serve the needs of its growing membership, the space limitations of the previous facility meant that HLEFCU was forced to have several employees working remotely from offices in other buildings. There is also a dedicated employee parking structure that connects to the rear of the facility.

The new facility also provides energy efficiency that reduces the carbon output. Photovoltaic panels are installed on the roof and a Tesla battery is in place on-site to capture and store the energy gathered. Energy- saving LEED lighting fixtures are installed throughout the facility.

For more information, go to hlefcu.com.