Kanaha Hotel opening pushed back a year

Public meeting to be held on formerly named Windward Hotel

Construction of the Kanaha Hotel at Kahului Airport -- formerly known as the Windward Hotel -- has been pushed to 2022, with plans to open for business by 2024, according to new project documents.

California-based R.D. Olson Development is planning to build the 200-room hotel on a 5.2-acre site near Costco and the Kahului Airport.

A draft environmental impact statement for the project was released in October. However, because it was later determined that the state Land Use Commission should be the one to review the study and not the Maui Planning Commission, developers had to republish a preparation notice for the EIS, explained Brett Davis, a senior planner with project consultant Chris Hart & Partners.

The preparation notice was published June 23 in the Office of Environmental Quality Control's "The Environmental Notice." A public meeting is scheduled for July 20.

While the hotel's name has changed, plans generally remain the same. The hotel will be located near the airport and geared toward business travelers. A shuttle would provide free transportation within a 2-mile radius of the hotel, including pick up and drop off to and from the Kahului Airport.

The site is within the Maui Business Park Phase II and is bordered by Haleakala Highway and Airport Access Road. R.D. Olson plans to purchase the hotel site from landowner A&B Properties once the land-use entitlement process is complete.

Plans had originally called for the hotel to be built in a single phase, with construction starting in 2021 and the hotel opening by 2023, but both dates have been pushed a year.

Before it can move forward, the project site needs to be reclassified from light industrial to hotel, which will require a change in zoning, an amendment to the Wailuku-Kahului Community Plan and an amendment to a 2004 state Land Use Commission decision. The hotel also needs a special management area use permit.

To view the full EIS preparation notice, visit oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov/Doc_Library/2020-06-23-MA-EISPN-Kanaha-Hotel-at-Kahului-Airport.pdf.

Comments are due by July 23 and should be sent to the approving agency, the state Land Use Commission, by mail at P.O. Box 2359, Honolulu 96804; by phone at (808) 587-3822; or by email at dbedt.luc.web@hawaii.gov.

The applicant and consultant should also be copied. Applicant R.D. Olson Development can be reached by mail at 520 Newport Center Drive, Suite 600, Newport Beach, CA 92660; by phone at (949) 271-1109; or by email at anthony.wrzosek@rdodevelopment.com.

Consultant Chris Hart & Partners can be reached by mail at 115 N. Market St., Wailuku 96793; by phone at 242-1955; or by email at bdavis@chpmaui.com.

A virtual EIS public scoping meeting will be held at 10 a.m. July 20 and will include a presentation by project representatives, followed by a separate portion for public oral comments; all oral comments will be audio recorded. Anyone interested in participating can join by going to us02web.zoom.us/j/7021666279.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.