HILO — Should Hawaii County buy Hakalau Point?
HILO — Should Hawaii County buy Hakalau Point?
The County Council’s Finance Committee will get a chance to weigh in on the future of the site today as it considers a resolution authorizing the purchase of the nearly 9-acre property, a former home to the Hakalau Plantation Co.
But a deal requires a willing seller.
Property owner Steve Shropshire, who is moving forward with a planned development, said he is willing to part with the property if the county also buys 87 acres he owns in the Hakalau gulch for a combined price of $4.25 million.
He said that price would recoup money invested in the properties and his proposed Hakalau Plantation Community development.
“I’m open-minded,” Shropshire said, adding he respects some Hakalau residents’ wish to preserve the land as a park. “I think everyone should be allowed to follow their dreams.”
But he said he has a lot of money and time invested in the project, and would like to see it through.
The development would include 11 homes and two new commercial/industrial buildings. His plans would provide value-added agriculture, regular farmers markets and farm-to-table dining, according to Shropshire, a Papaikou resident.
The large valley parcel would provide residents and visitors access to a “traditional Hawaiian environment,” according to a power point presentation Shropshire emailed to the Tribune-Herald.
The two parcels on Hakalau Point have a combined assessed value of $842,600, according to the county’s Real Property Tax Office.
The county’s Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Commission ranked the lots as its No. 3 priority for preservation.