Kīhei Marketplace seeks permit for redevelopment

Kīhei Marketplace LLC is seeking a permit from the Maui Planning Commission to demolish existing structures and construct buildings for retail outlets, two restaurants, vacation and long-term rentals and parking at its 1.6-acre property across from Kalama Park.

The commission is set to take up its application for a special management area permit at its April 23 meeting, beginning 9 a.m. at the County of Maui Service Center in Kahului. Members of the public can participate remotely via Webex. For meeting ID and password, click here.

Plans for the $8 million redevelopment call for demolishing an abandoned wave-generating structure and other remaining structures. The applicant also wants to maintain a 300-square-foot restaurant and renovate a 4,000-square-foot commercial structure. New construction would include two commercial buildings of 2,335 square feet each; two restaurants (3,400- and 2,365-square feet, respectively); and 76 parking stalls on a lower level. Upper floors would feature 13 transient vacation rentals, two long-term rentals of 1,000 and 1,300 square feet, and two live/work units of 960 and 850 square feet. Work includes utilities, landscaping and parking improvements at the property located at 1975 South Kīhei Road. Vehicle access to the property is from South Kīhei Road and Alahele Place.

A Planning Department report takes issue with plans for vacation rentals.

“With the Maui community sorely in need of housing options for our local residents, the department would prefer the 13 TVR units be changed to long-term rentals as well,” the report says. “The Lahaina wildfires of August 2023 have only exacerbated this housing shortage for our residents and therefore the 13 TVR units do not help to reduce the affordable housing deficit.”

The project site has a state urban land use designation, and its county zoning is B-2 Community Business District.

Currently, the project site has a two-story, open-air warehouse structure; several take-out food service facilities; a moped rentals shop; a dive training school; and a specialty wave-generating structure that has not operated for the past decade. The property is next to a 76 gas station and the Island Surf condominium.

Redevelopment plans call for maintaining the small restaurant and existing two-story, 6,500-square-foot warehouse structure currently used for shops and a tour kiosk. Structures on the west side of the property will be demolished.

The property is in an area prone to flooding and will need a flood development permit. It’s located outside the 3.2-foot, sea-level rise exposure area, except for a small section on the east side of the property. It’s also within the tsunami evacuation zone.

Project developers began seeking a special management area permit in April 2020. In March 2021, the Urban Design Review Board recommended conditional approval. Later, the Maui County Council passed an ordinance creating a two-year moratorium, effective Jan. 7, 2022, on new transient accommodations. Then, the Council repealed the moratorium ordinance, effective Dec. 4, 2022.

Project developers plan to begin construction soon after they get governmental approvals. Work is expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete.

The project’s planning consultant is Chris Hart and Partners.