Wendy’s is coming back to Kailua-Kona.
The Kailua Village Design Commission on Tuesday is set to consider a design review application from California-based Cotti Foods Corporation for a planned Wendy’s restaurant and drive-thru within the new Niumalu Marketplace.
The news comes more than eight years after West Hawaii’s last Wendy’s closed in early March 2014, several years after the shuttering of the Wendy’s location in Keauhou. The fast-food chain first opened in Kailua-Kona in the early 1990s in the site that’s currently occupied by Kentucky Fried Chicken in the Kona Coast Shopping Center.
The new Wendy’s will be built at the corner of Henry Street and the lower access road to Niumalu Marketplace, across the road from the Aloha Gas station.
The planned 2,695-square-foot eatery will be larger than its previous location, which was just over 2,000 square feet. Three signs, all of which will be under 22 square feet in size, will adorn the exterior.
“This Wendy’s has been designed to emulate the building characteristics of the Niumalu Marketplace. The use of a standing seam metal roof with a few tower elements to break-up the roof. Glass store front to help open the dining room area and color scheme which matches Niumalu Marketplace,” wrote Dale Ryan director of operations — of architectural firm Design+ Inc. in a letter to the Hawaii County Planning Department dated June 20.
The current color scheme calls the restaurant’s exterior mains walls to be beechwood-colored with “Sierra sand”-colored accent walls and a “Plymouth” brown roof. The iconic Wendy’s “bright red” would be used for a parapet and other locations around the building.
Plans call for landscaping to include local species like nau, ti (ki) leaf, pili grass, plumeria, purple sugar cane, kupukupu fern, and pohinahina.
According to the application, the Kona eatery will be operated by “Kona Owner, LLC.” A check of the state’s business name registry showed the business registered in 2017 with a mailing address to a commercial real estate development firm located in Irvine, California.
Wendy’s has 11 locations in Hawaii, all of which are located on Oahu. The opening of the Kailua-Kona location would be the 12th. An opening date is unclear, however, an approval from the design commission, which provides its recommendations to the planning director, must occur before any building permit can be issued.
The commission is set to hear the matter at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday in-person at the West Hawaii Civic Center with livestream via YouTube.