Ho‘opili development could start in 2016

Cameron Nekota, vice president of D.R. Horton Hawaii, said Wednesday construction of 11,750 homes on Ewa farmland will likely begin in 2016 if the city approves the developer’s rezoning application.

D.R. Horton won approval from the state Land Use Commission in 2012 to build the Ho‘opili master-planned community but still needs approval from the city. In most recent cases, city officials have approved development plans that were already given a green light by the state.

The Ho‘opili development, if approved, will include two stations on the city’s planned rail line from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. Rail construction is moving forward at the Ho‘opili site, and Nekota said he hopes that will add momentum to the effort to get the Ho‘opili community project approved by the city.

Nekota told the Star-Advertiser that D.R. Horton is working on its rezoning application for the city but has not submitted it yet. He expects, once it is submitted, that the city approval could come in 2015, making it possible for construction to begin the following year.

Aloun Farms, which farms about 1,100 of the 1,554-acre Ho‘opili land, will continue to grow crops while D.R. Horton seeks city approval for construction to begin, Nekota said.

Kailua clubhouse in running for $50,000

The Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii has made it to the finals of a nationwide contest, for which the grand prize is a share of $100,000 and the expertise of home improvement expert Ty Pennington. The club’s Windward Clubhouse for Kids is among 50 semifinalist projects in the "Ultimate Neighborhood Give Back Challenge," selected from more than 320 entries submitted from 49 states.

Mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate is staging the competition to fund a project that will make a meaningful impact in its community, according to a statement.

Voting to narrow down the entries to six finalists is open through July 8. Entrants have submitted short videos detailing their projects, which are linked on the Guaranteed Rate Facebook page for voting.

The six finalists will be announced July 15, and the first-place winner, to be announced Aug. 1, will receive $50,000, plus the expertise of Pennington for a day. The five remaining finalists each will receive $10,000 toward their projects.

United-Continental buyout deal cost $172M

The 2010 merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines was followed by buyouts of about 2,900 union workers in the past 21⁄2 years at a cost to the company of $172 million, according to a United Continental Holdings Inc. regulatory filing. That averages out to $59,310 per worker.

Flight attendants from the United side of the merger have borne the brunt of job cuts. The buyouts included 1,300 mostly United flight attendants, and in 2012 about 1,800 flight attendants from the United part of the deal took advantage of a company call for voluntary leaves of absence to avoid forced layoffs.

By this April, United had planned to furlough more than 680 additional legacy United flight attendants. But those cuts were averted when union leaders agreed to modify a contract to allow them to work with Continental flight attendant crews.

FedEx profit up on ground-shipping growth

DALLAS » The boom in online shopping may be hurting some store-based retailers, but it is doing wonders for FedEx Corp. The package-delivery giant said Wednesday that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose sharply thanks to the growth in e-commerce, which is boosting FedEx’s ground-shipping business at a time when its core express-delivery segment is flat. FedEx’s earnings of $2.46 a share beat Wall Street’s forecast by a dime.

The Memphis-based company said it earned $730 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended May 31, compared with $303 million a year ago, when write-downs weighed on the results. Revenue rose 3.5 percent to $11.84 billion.

ON THE MOVE

Halekulani Corp. has appointed Dara Lum to communications director. She has 14 years of communications experience, including serving in the public relations division of Anthology Marketing Group at McNeil Wilson Communications. Before McNeil Wilson, Lum was a media director for the Hawaii International Film Festival.

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced its new Realtor associates: 

» Jill Moss has joined its Kapolei office. She served as a Realtor associate at Island Realty Group.

» Rich Harter has joined its Windward office. He was previously a co-owner and top producer of Alaska-based Stars and Stripes Realty.

» Kimberly J. Donner joined its New Agent Training Office, or NATO. Before CBP, Donner served as a property manager for Signature Homes Island Style.

» Elaine Kerry also joined its NATO. She was previously a consultant at Aureus Consulting in Singapore.

SHIFTING GEARS

Isle car repairs cost around U.S. average

CarMD ranks Hawaii at No. 23 among U.S. states for highest car repair costs in 2013, while drivers along the Eastern Seaboard pay the most.

The company’s annual analysis reviewed more than 145,000 vehicles needing check-engine-light repairs in 2013 and found that drivers in North Carolina pay the most, an average parts and labor cost of $426.55, versus $398.03 in Hawaii and $323.57 in Nebraska, where car repairs cost the least.

The U.S. average was $392.49.

The other most expensive states to get vehicles repaired, according to the online provider of vehicle maintenance information services, are Massachusetts at $424.55; Delaware, $423.91; New Jersey, $421.90; and Virginia, $421.49.

Quarterback Club to feature auto racing

Oahu resident and automotive expert Ed Kemper will address the Honolulu Quarterback Club gathering beginning at 11:30 a.m. Monday.

Kemper, the host of "Island Driver TV" on OC16, will make a video presentation entitled "Draft, Drift, Dirt or Drag" relating to multiple types of auto racing and their differences.

The lunch begins at 11:30 and Kemper’s presentation gets underway at noon at Maple Garden Restaurant at 909 Isenberg St.

The luncheon is open to the public and costs $15 per person, which includes tax and tip. Free parking is available next to the restaurant and street parking also is available.