Maui Council committee advances bills for acquisition of Wailuku Executive Center, expansion of Kula Ag Park

The Maui County Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee has recommended full Council approval of bills to acquire a new building for the Department of Prosecuting Attorney and to re-appropriate funds for phase one expansion of the Kula Agricultural Park.

On Tuesday, the committee, chaired by Yuki Lei Sugimura, took up Bills 103 and 104 and Resolution 25-173. All three relate to the county’s proposed $10 million acquisition and initial renovation of the building at 24 North Church St. in Wailuku. The County would pay with bond financing. The committee advanced the measures to full Council by a 7-0, with Council Members Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins and Keani Rawlins-Fernandez not present during voting.

According to the draft resolution, the four-story Wailuku Executive Center has 30 condominium units with about 26,124 square feet and a 10,782-square-foot parking garage.

State and Maui County records show the building is owned by ATAK Investments, which is led by Wailuku attorney Anthony Takitani. His law firm of Takitani Agaran & Jorgensen has an office at 24 N. Church St.

The proposed action involves appropriating $10 million in bond funds for the purchase — up to $9.5 million for acquisition and $500,000 for closing costs and for essential upgrades such as the chiller, fresh air system and fire alarm panel. Managing Director Josiah Nishita described the “Takitani Building” as a “desired asset,” with its appraisal coming in a little more than $8.9 million. The negotiated price is $9.5 million.

The purchase is to consolidate the Department of Prosecuting Attorney, which currently operates from multiple scattered locations, into a single building that can accommodate its approximately 90 employees. The department has not been in the same building for many years.

“It makes complete sense to help bring everyone together into one facility and that would also assist in the management supervision training, camaraderie and whatnot for that team there,” Nishita said.

Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Martin said prosecutor’s employees have been “spread across multiple locations” since he began working there in 2005.

“For about the last 15 years, we have housed a number of our employees between the old courthouse and space that was first rented and then later we the county became the owners of the space at 2103 Wells Street,” he said. “What we’ve noticed the impacts to morale and the efficiency of our operations has been significant… The overwhelming number one answer in all three surveys was a version of either the building, meaning the old courthouse, or two, that we could all be in the same building.”

Council Member Tasha Kama said the old courthouse seemed like a “dungeon,” being so “damp and dark.”

“We gotta do better for our people,” she said. “There’s something about when you live or when you work in a place that brings you joy. You want to do that all the time because, if you don’t have that, then you know you go to work kind of grumpy and make other people grumpy and all of that kind of stuff.”

Takatani, representing his business, ATAK Investment LLC, the building’s seller, gave a brief history and expressed being “bittersweet” about the sale but wished the county well.

Future of the Old Wailuku Courthouse

The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney’s impending move sparked discussion about the future use of the old Wailuku Courthouse. Last year, department employees moved out because of an infestation of mold.

Nishita told committee members that health and safety issues would be addressed. The current plan is to move the Department of Personnel Services into the space, he said.

Council Member Tamara Paltin expressed concern about Personnel Department staff morale moving into what she called “the dungeon,” noting the county’s 700 job vacancies. Nishita said renovations are planned for the courthouse, including “opening spaces up, lighting, reconfiguration” to make it “more conducive.”

Deputy Director of Personnel Services Kainea Aiwohi-Alo acknowledged that staff morale is “a concern,” but she said the department is working on a plan that would make department staff happy while providing extra expansion space.

Nishita said the “dungeon” feeling stemmed not from the building itself, but from being “overly crowded and overwhelmed by too many people.”

County staff confirmed that a hazardous material evaluation will be performed for the Wailuku Executive Center as part of due diligence before any major renovation work. To meet the Oct. 31 closing date, the committee was asked to expedite the budget and bond bills.

Real property management specialist Guy Hironaka of the Department of Finance explained that funds for initial renovations could be held in escrow to avoid delaying the closing.

Kula Ag Park expansion receives matching funds

The committee also began work on Bills 127 and 128, which seek to re-appropriate $5,862,123 in county funds for Phase 1 of the Kula Agricultural Park Expansion.

Sugimura explained that the state allocated $10 million in reimbursable general obligation bonds for expansion costs, but that required $10 million in matching funds from Maui County. So far, the County has encumbered $4,137,877, but the remaining $5,862,123 has lapsed and needs to be reappropriated.

Maui County Capital Improvement Projects Program Coordinator Dan Schupak provided council members a project timeline showing that, in 2023, the state appropriated $10 million in matching grant funds, and the county passed matching $10 million in bond funding in fiscal 2024.

The $4.2 million in encumbered funds was for design fees and a booster pump station construction, he said.

The committee ultimately unanimously approved the bills to reappropriate the lapsed funding.

The project’s goal is to improve infrastructure, particularly water supply, for farmers in the Upcountry Maui Agricultural Park.

Water source and costs debated

The discussion included an exchange on the water source and allocation. Council Chair Alice Lee noted that the new agricultural park will provide 28 lots, and she questioned the need for a large water allocation for agriculture given that thousands of people remain on the Upcountry water waitlist for housing.

“I was just curious why that huge allocation for a small community of farmers,” she said.

When asked why the funds lapsed, Schupak explained that there were “a lot of discussions” in 2024 about how the agricultural park’s “off water system” was going to be used.

“There was a lot of kind of interdepartmental discussion bouncing around of options,” he said. Options included gravity fed and water pumps, but ultimately it was decided to employ an Upcountry reservoir. “So there was kind of some shift of the design that delayed things a little bit,” he said.

Department of Water Supply Deputy Director James “Kimo” Landgraf corrected the record on the water source, reporting that the water is drawn from the Wailoa Ditch, a part of the surface water system.

Landgraf noted the existing allocation from the Commission on Water Resource Management is 5.25 million gallons per day, which will be shared between Kamole Weir and the Kula Ag Park. When the permit comes before the commission again, the County plans to ask for more water at that time, he said.

Overview of Kula Agricultural Park:

• 445-acre Kula Agricultural Park is straddled by Pulehu and Omaopio roads.
• There are 31 farm lots ranging from 10 to 30 acres and supports 25 farmers.
• The Ag Park program is to promote the development of diversified agriculture by providing appropriately sized lots at reasonable rent with long-term tenure.

The next regular Council meeting is Oct. 10, but the agenda for that meeting does not have either the Wailuku Executive Center or Kula Ag Park items. The Council calendar has the following regular meeting set for Oct. 24.