More than housing could be added to the growing Ho‘opili community on Oahu by the end of next year, following a $21.5 million land sale announced Friday.
D.R. Horton, developer
of the master-planned community on the Ewa Plain, said it sold 57 acres of land zoned for industrial/commercial uses to a company that plans to develop a business park on the site.
An affiliate of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Jupiter Holdings purchased the property.
Principals from Jupiter said in a statement that development plans are moving into an advanced stage and that they are determined to see construction start before the end of next year.
The site, which is below the H-1 freeway and between parcels slated for
a high school and an elementary school, is zoned for industrial/commercial mixed use.
City zoning rules allow
a wide range of uses on such land, including warehouses, retail, restaurants, offices, automobile dealerships, distribution facilities and base yards. Hotels and hospitals also are allowed with special approval
under the IMX-1 zoning
category.
Horton said local vegetable producer Aloun Farms, which has long rented much of the Ho‘opili site
for farming and is being
displaced gradually by housing, intends to buy part of the industrial site from Jupiter, including land where the farm has its headquarters and packaging facility.
“We are appreciative and already in discussions to purchase additional adjacent IMX lots,” Alec Sou, Aloun president, said in a statement.
Horton began construction within Ho‘opili’s roughly 1,500-acre site nearly three years ago
and has since completed about 520 homes out of 11,750 planned. One park covering 1.8 acres also has been completed.
Jupiter Holdings,
established in 1997,
has been involved in
industrial land investment and development in
Hawaii that includes
projects in Kapolei and Campbell Industrial Park. The company, which also once owned the 140-room Royal Garden Hotel and
Spa in Waikiki, said it has invested about $250 million in Hawaii over the last
20 years.