Kaiser Foundation Health Plan has reached an agreement with Maui Island Holdings, LLC to purchase the 6.28-acre Maui News campus just northwest of Maui Memorial Medical Center, which is operated by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals subsidiary Maui Health, and adjacent to Kaiser Permanente’s Wailuku Medical Office.

The property being sold is at 100 Mahalani St. in Wailuku and includes three buildings totaling more than 43,000 square feet that are home to The Maui News and the press where The Maui News and other publications are printed.

The purchase agreement allows The Maui News to continue operating at the site for up to a year. General Manager Jenni DeFouw said the newspaper is working to identify new office space and move quickly. She said the property sale and subsequent move will launch a new era at the newspaper, which is published daily online at mauinews.com and weekly on Thursdays in print.

“We are excited to move into space that better suits our needs and is more accessible to our readers and advertisers,” said DeFouw, who noted that more than half of the current building space is not occupied. “This is an investment in our future that will allow us to focus all of our energy on delivering the content and advertising the greater Maui community expects and deserves.”

The sale also will allow Kaiser Permanente to better serve the community with expanded health services.

“For more than 50 years, the physicians, providers, and staff at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii have had the privilege of caring for the people of Maui,” said Ed Chan, RD, FACHE, Hawaii market president for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals. “This space for expansion supports our growing needs, as well as our commitment to delivering high-quality care to Valley Isle residents and is an investment to ensure we meet our Maui members’ health care needs for generations to come.”

Kaiser Permanente and Maui Island Holdings, LLC have been in discussions regarding a potential sale of the property for quite some time before reaching agreement earlier this month.

“We recognize and honor The Maui News’ 125-year history of providing news and information to Maui residents and we’re thankful that this move will allow both our organizations to continue serving the Maui community for years to come,” said John Yang, MD, president and medical director, Hawaii Permanente Medical Group, which oversees care delivery for Kaiser Permanente Hawaii. 

With the sale of the buildings, The Maui News plans to close its printing press and transition printing of The Maui News and its other clients to another press.