A large swath of Paiko Ridge in East Honolulu will now be protected from development, thanks to a deal brokered by Livable Hawaii Kai Hui to purchase the land from its owner.

The nonprofit on Thursday morning announced the $3 million deal to purchase nearly 335 acres of Paiko Ridge land in Kuliouou from LevRed Investors LLC that will help preserve and maintain it in perpetuity.

LHKH, which is rooted in a mission of protecting cultural and natural resources in East Honolulu, raised $1.3 million for the purchase and secured loans for the rest, while LevRed donated the balance of ridgetop land.

Advocates described it as an “epic” win for the community as well as future generations, and made the announcement on World Nature Conservation Day — a day set aside to acknowledge the importance and significance of natural resources.

“We are thrilled that the East Oahu community, and residents islandwide, will be able to enjoy the majestic beauty of Paiko Ridge,” said the LevRed Investors ownership team in a statement. “Livable Hawaii Kai Hui is the perfect partner to entrust this magnificent land.”

The land — made up primarily of three parcels that stretch from mauka to makai — has historic and cultural significance, according to Livable Hawaii Kai Hui.

The ridgetop offers a sweeping view of East Oahu and is possibly home to a culturally significant Native Hawaiian boundary marker, while the lower land leads toward Paiko Lagoon, a wildlife sanctuary.

As part of the deal, a 3.5-acre, residential-zoned parcel in the lower back part of Kuliouou Valley will also be preserved and handed over to another nonprofit, Kupa‘aina o Kuli‘ou‘ou, to keep it safe from development.

Kupa‘aina o Kuli‘ou‘ou in September requested that Livable Hawaii Kai Hui add the parcel — part of the mountain adjacent to the existing residential neighborhood — to the purchase. The parcel, due to its residential zoning, has been subject to multiple proposed development projects within the past six years.

So LHKH decided to go back to LevRed with a new proposal, and though it delayed closing by a year, those involved maintain the result was worth the wait.

“The beauty of the story is the ridgetop fulfills the mission of our organization, and the back of the valley fills the mission of KOK,” said Elizabeth Reilly, president of Livable Hawaii Kai Hui. “It took us an extra year, and the landowner was willing. We were able to figure out a win-win-win, and East Honolulu ends up with more protected land.”

Negotiations were carried out during the pandemic by way of virtual meetings.

The residential parcel will eventually be owned by KOK, which has $1.7 million approved from the City and County of Honolulu’s Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund for the purchase of the Kuliouou parcel.

KOK plans to convert the parcel to preservation land after the acquisition is completed. The nonprofit is raising another $120,000 from the community for additional expenses, which include a survey, taxes, insurance and conversion fees to close the purchase.

The purchase of the land for preservation was the result of years of effort. For more than a decade, LHKH, community members and elected officials have been working to protect Paiko Ridge.

There was another effort, which fell through, to purchase the ridge parcels about a decade ago in partnership with the Trust for Public Land.

“We appreciate the environmental stewardship of LevRed, which afforded this conservation success story,” said Reilly. “For many years KOK has had the conviction to malama those lands” and has been working toward a “protection solution” with the Kuliouou-­Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board to fend off additional development, which would “forever alter that neighborhood.”

KOK’s mission is the preservation, stewardship and protection of watersheds, valley walls, forest lands and cultural and historic areas of Kuliouou.

“We have been working to have this aina placed in conservation in perpetuity and to further protect the back of Kuliouou Valley that has been subject to potential development,” said Waipa Parker, president of KOK, in a statement. “We are extremely excited and grateful to share that achieving this dream has approached reality.”