Walgreens Proposes Fourth Maui Store with New Kīhei Location

By Wendy Osher

Walgreens is proposing the construction of its fourth full-service Maui location at a site currently used to host a daily open air market next to McDonald’s on South Kīhei Road.  Construction on the 12,550 square foot store is proposed to begin once plans and permit applications are approved, and is expected to be completed by 2017 according to a Draft Environmental Assessment filed for the project.

The total cost for design and construction is projected to be approximately $3 million.

In addition to the three full-service stores Walgreens already operates on Maui, there are also two specialty pharmacy locations on island.

According to the DEA, the Kīhei store would employ approximately 30 individuals and would operate from 7 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.  The pharmacy window would close earlier, with plans for a drive through pharmacy window.

The approximately two-acre site is bordered by South Kīhei Road to the east, McDonald’s Restaurant to the south, single-family house lots to the east, and Nohokai Street to the north.

According to the draft document, the area was in agricultural use from about 1900 through mid-century.  In the late 1908s, a fast-food drive-in restaurant was proposed at the site, but was never built; and in 2001, a Kīhei Business Complex was proposed, but was never built, according to the DEA.  The open-air market reportedly obtained a special management area permit to operate on the vacant land in 2005.

The proposed use will require a change in zoning from R-3 Residential to B-2 Community Business for four of the five parcels which comprise the site, as well as an SMA permit.

According to the DEA, there is one known violation regarding the site. The DEA stated that according to letters from the Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, unpermitted fill occurred on the site, resulting in the permanent loss of wetlands in the early 1990s.  The document states that the action was mitigated several years later through wetland enhancement on a separate property purchased specifically for the enhancement.

Walgreens Kīhei site plan – Courtesy Walgreen Maui Inc., via DEA prepared by PBR Hawaiʻi.

Walgreens already operates three full service Maui stores, including one at the Puʻunēnē Avenue, Kaʻahumanu Avenue intersection in Kahului. Photo by Wendy Osher.

The proposed Walgreens Kīhei site is currently being used by a daily open air market – Courtesy Walgreen Maui Inc., via DEA prepared by PBR Hawaiʻi.

Walgreens Kīhei site plan – Courtesy Walgreen Maui Inc., via DEA prepared by PBR Hawaiʻi.

Walgreens Kīhei site plan – Courtesy Walgreen Maui Inc., via DEA prepared by PBR Hawaiʻi.

The proposed Walgreens Kīhei site is currently being used by a daily open air market – Courtesy Walgreen Maui Inc., via DEA prepared by PBR Hawaiʻi.