Watching a film, concert or sporting event at the new theater planned for the Downtown Kihei project would feature a luxurious moviegoing experience with gourmet food served on trays to patrons reclining in leather seats – instead of filmgoers scarfing down hot dogs and popcorn at a mall megaplex, said Jay Krigsman, executive vice president of the Krausz Cos.

“Everything is digital, so there’s no film,” he said. “There’s digital imaging and digital sound. And what that does is allow not only screenings of the latest releases, but you can also show sporting events. You can show a concert from Madison Square Garden.

“You could see the Super Bowl. You could see the Rolling Stones in concert. You can see the fight in Vegas without having to go to Vegas,” he said.

It took more than 10 years for the Krausz Cos.’ Downtown Kihei project to reach the Maui Planning Commission on Tuesday. Commissioners recommended the Maui County Council approve land-use measures to make way for the movie theater; a four-story, 150-room, family- and business-oriented hotel; and restaurants, shops, businesses and medical offices.

The commission deferred action on a special management area permit. That permit will return to the planning panel for review and action after the council takes up the project’s land-use applications, possibly as early as the end of this year. SMA permits are typically taken up by the commission after the council acts on land-use measures.

Project developers are requesting an amendment to the Kihei-Makena Community Plan that would change planning standards in the South Maui region to allow a 60-foot height for the 44,180-square-foot theater. The entire commercial project would have 257,098 square feet of gross leasable space.

Plans call for a pedestrian-oriented, “main street” complex to the north and south of Piikea Avenue, roughly between the Piilani Shopping Center and the Longs-Azeka’s malls. Instead of a core shopping area surrounded by a parking lot, the project plans to integrate interior roads and wide sidewalks with shopping and parking areas. Nearby makai wetlands would be untouched.

Krausz bought the Piilani Village center in 2003, and shortly afterward began planning a commercial complex on 14 to 15 acres makai of that complex and mauka of a man-made wetland. Eventually, Krausz acquired about 27 acres, in total, bisected by Piikea Avenue.

Cinetopia, a theater chain based in Portland, Ore., has been lined up as the movie theater tenant for Downtown Kihei’s commercial complex, Krigsman said. At the project’s other end would be a “select service” hotel catering to Hawaii families visiting from off-island as well as business travelers, Krigsman said.

The project developers favor Cinetopia as a tenant because it’s among the leaders in the current Mainland trend of “luxurious theater-going,” he said. The chain delivers a high level of customer service, caters to local communities and doesn’t do it “at a price point that is unaffordable,” Krigsman said.

The theater would provide different moviegoing venues, including a large, auditorium-style theater with a 70-foot diagonal screen and high-back, reclining leather seats, he said. Moviegoers could put their feet up on ottomans and enjoy restaurant-quality food and beverages.

Some Mainland locations have “vino-topias,” where patrons may sample selections of 20 to 40 bottles of wine while eating gourmet food, he said.

Other theater setups include movie parlors and living-room theaters, which would have love seats and coffee tables available for customers, he said. The small theaters could be rented for birthday parties, corporate events, motivational training or other private gatherings.

The parlor theaters would be midrange sized – smaller than the auditorium but larger than the living-room setting, Krigsman said.

“It will be a bigger screen but not the 70-foot screen,” he said. “Everybody will have a nice, more comfortable chair, an ottoman to put your feet up on, a tray for the food. It’s just a much more comfortable environment.”

Theater prices would not be more than $1 to $3 higher than typical megaplex ticket prices, Krigsman said.

The planned hotel would be similar to a Courtyard by Marriott or a Hilton Garden Inn, which are “select-service” hotels that provide most but not all service – for example, no bellman or room service, Krigsman said.

Such hotels are less expensive than resort hotels, and they don’t charge resort fees or for parking, he said.

The Courtyard Maui Kahului Airport hotel has room prices “pushing $300 a night,” and those prices are because “there’s more demand than there are rooms. It’s basic business, supply and demand,” Krigsman said.

On Tuesday, a check for reservations at the 138-room Courtyard Maui Kahului Airport, which opened in June 2012, found that there were fewer than five rooms available Tuesday night. The least-expensive room was priced at $199 for a night with one king-sized bed and a sofa bed. The most expensive room was a $319 suite. (Prices did not include taxes.)

The new hotel in Kihei would add to the supply of midrange-priced hotel rooms and should bring down prices for these hotels and meet an unmet need, he said.

“There are not enough modern, clean, comfortable, nonresort hotels on this island to serve the ohana that come to visit the people that live here, to serve the businesspeople who come to serve the people who live here,” he said.

Commission members heard no public opposition to the project, though there was one letter submitted in opposition.

Kihei Community Association President Mike Moran expressed support for the project. However, he asked for improvements in the way bike and pedestrian pathways are integrated in the development.

“There needs to be clear and decisive bike paths throughout the project,” he wrote in a letter to developers.

Moran said the community association would like to see sidewalks separated from the street with a green strip that incorporates trees and shrubs.

Project developers told commissioners they’d continue to strive to make the development bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

* Brian Perry can be reached at bperry@mauinews.com.