Construction on Mākena Resort Creates Demand for 270 Jobs

ATC Mākena Holdings, LLC & Discovery Land Company starts principal construction on the Mākena Golf & Beach Club’s HM project area. Company representatives say the project will create 270 construction jobs throughout a three-year period.

Mākena Golf & Beach Club staff and Goodfellow Bros., Inc. employees gather at a recent blessing ceremony at HM project site. Photo Courtesy of Mākena Golf & Beach Club.

“We are elated to commence principal construction on the Mākena Golf & Beach Club,” said Ed Divita, partner with Discovery Land Company. “Our intent has always been to support the greater Maui community…having construction employment come from local resources as much as possible,” he said.

Discovery Land Company is working together with Goodfellow Bros., Inc. to redevelop the Mākena Golf & Beach Club HM project area–a 24-acre site that encompasses the former Maui Prince Hotel. “Everyone at GBI is excited to begin revitalizing a very special property. Our Mākena project staff and workforce is 100% comprised of people who live in Maui County, and we plan to continue hiring locally as the project ramps up,” said Chad Goodfellow, GBI’s President. “The project helps sustain GBI’s total local workforce of 250-300 employees, many of whom have been with the company for more than three decades.”

Mākena Golf & Beach Club staff and Goodfellow Bros., Inc. employees gather at a recent blessing ceremony at HM project site. Photo Courtesy of Mākena Golf & Beach Club.

The project also provides ample employment and teaching opportunities for graduating students entering the workforce. “Every year at this time, my office gets flooded with applications from students entering the trade workforce. Projects like Mākena, creates demand, allowing me to hire and put them to work and teach them a trade,” said Bruce Uʻu, a coordinator with the Hawaiʻi Regional Council of Carpenters.

In addition, to the 270 new construction jobs over the three-year construction period, the completed project will provide 285 full-time equivalent jobs in the hospitality and service sector, an opportunity Discovery is looking forward to offering to those who have previously worked at Mākena and to the greater Maui workforce, as well.

Mākena Golf & Beach Club staff and Goodfellow Bros., Inc. employees gather at a recent blessing ceremony at HM project site. Photo Courtesy of Mākena Golf & Beach Club.

Low Impact Development plays an integral part of the site design. “The design’s implementation of green roofs, porous materials and bio-retention work in combination with traditional storm water management techniques,” says Dr. Amanda Cording of EcoSolutions. Dr. Cording, an affiliate faculty at the University of Hawaii Mānoa and drainage expert continues, “it is encouraging to see Mākena leading the way on Maui and electing to use these innovative and effective LID techniques.”