There are a lot of plans in store for Ewa Beach, on top of all the new construction homes being built, a new waterfront retail, dining, resort, and entertainment center will be one of them.
Plans are underway by Haseko Development to build a 215,000-square-foot complex on their Hoakalei property.
You may only see homes and the Wai Kai lagoon on Google Maps, but possibly by 2019 there will be more than 110 retail stores, which will include nearly two dozen restaurants and cafes, and a variety of shops and entertainment outlets that will overlook the resort’s 52-acre recreational lagoon. Plans include a 10,000-square-foot specialty market and a 15,000-square-foot health club and spa.
“Our largest so-called anchors will be our signature buildings, which are actually spoken for. Three of the four signature restaurant buildings are going to some very renowned chefs that everybody will recognize,” said Lawrence Caster, Director of retail development for Haseko. “Then we have a lot of smaller shop spaces. We have a specialty food market at the front of the project, which I think everybody will love and will take advantage of a lot of produce being grown locally in the Ewa area, and so I think it will lend itself both to our local residents, and the community that surrounds it.”
Haseko plans to create a garden-like environment, complete with water gardens, a boardwalk lined with shops and cafes, a multi-level outdoor dining terrace, and a 10,000-square-foot rooftop garden to its architectural design.
“Being able to get into the water and also go then get out of the water and go get something to eat is really going to be unique and people are going to love it,” Caster said.
Haseko’s project is said to boost the Honolulu county’s economy.
“Of course it starts with the construction jobs. So we will be starting the grading of the project within the next three to four months, subject to getting our grading plans approved,” Caster said. “We anticipate then a 12- to 18-month construction duration which, of course, there’s a lot of jobs associated with that, and then once the project opens, of course there’s just a lot of retail jobs that are available for people in Hawaii.”
If everything goes well, it is estimated that the new Ewa Beach resort will open in 2019 or 2020.
Wai Kai at Hoakalei plans to include a 18-hole Ernie Els-designed golf course at Hoakalei Country Club, up to 950 visitor accommodation units, and more than 2,200 resort residences.
Ewa Beach homeowners in the surrounding neighborhoods like Ewa Gentry or Ocean Pointe may see their home values rise.