Maui Real Estate & Development

The best massage we’ve had anywhere within the Hawaiian Islands is at Massage Maui, in Kihei, Maui.  Lisa gave me a very strong-handed massage that knocked out more than a few knots.  Working on the computer creates all kinds of back problems.  They knew exactly where to go to find these problems and hit them hard.

The location is great too!  Located in front of the Sugar Beach Resort, Massage Maui is close to Wailea, and not too far from Lahaina.  North Kihei is pretty central to most parts of the island, which makes it easy to get to them.

Call them today to reserve your massage or spa treatment by calling: (808) 357-7317

Recently, more and more focus has been put on the harbor area at Maalaea for proposed development.  This encompasses everything from new large real estate projects to new Algae farming for power.

Ohana Kai is one of the new proposed real estate projects at Maalaea.  There is a log to controversy over this property due to ecological impact from drainage as well as traffic issues.

The Algae plant would be the first fully functioning Algae power plant in the world.  They been testing the possibility on the Big Island, but if it gets the go ahead, this new power plant would supply much of the energy needed for Maui.

The photo above was taken at Maalaea Harbor next to the Island Star Maui sailing Yacht.  Maalaea Harbor is home to dozens of high-quality vessels at a great location.   The location is primarily why there is so much interest in building around this area.

Aloha and welcome!  Here at Maui Real Estate & Development Blog, we’ve decided to open up posting to Maui Realtors as well as Maui Developers for FREE!  We will continue posting about Maui real estate, but we now want to offer this site to other Maui Professionals.

What you need to do:

1. Email us at the above address in red.  Let us know that you’re serious about writing blog post(s).
2. In the Right Column of this page, at the bottom you’ll see a REGISTER link under Subscribe.  Click.
3. Register.  We will then accept you within 24-48 hours.
4. Write Blog Post(s).

Rules for Writing:

• You may only write about Maui related subjects.  We prefer only Maui Real Estate and Maui Development posts.  These can include a home for sale, new project in development, Maui news, or any other related subject.
• You MAY NOT write solely to promote yourself our your company.  This means the post must have some substance.
• The post must be at least a paragraph long.
• Grammar and Spelling must be checked before submitting.
• The post MAY NOT be duplicate content from another website.
• Only 2 links per post.  These links must be Maui related.
• PHOTOS: They must be saved for web.  We don’t want people posting huge files.

If all of this is done, your post will be accepted and posted.  If not, you will be deleted as a user immediately.

Why are we doing this?

Our site gets over 1,000 visitors per month and growing.  We’ve projected that this site will hit 3,000 in less than a year.  It takes quite a lot of time to promote this site, and we need your help in posting relevant, helpful Maui information.  This is a great way for you to promote your business, real estate, development, or any other Maui subject.  We’re open to any relevant topic.  Please don’t write short, crappy posts; you will be deleted forever.  Mahalo!

A recent report revealed that in November, Condo sales had more than doubled!  The Realtors Association of Maui reports 69 condos selling in November 2009 compared to 29 units sold in November 2008.  We’re on track to sell about as many condos this year as last year.  This is a sign of a buyers market and hopefully the beginning of the market coming back.

At the same time, November was up 122 percent in foreclosures across the state of Hawaii, according to sources with the Associated Press.  Maui was noted as having the worst month for foreclosures with 197 in November.

People are still hurting and are losing their homes.  This makes for a ripe time for those that can buy a home or condo.  In our honest opinion, these are all signs that things are changing soon.  Our island has been through some very difficult times, but 2010′s real estate outlook seems to be sunnier on Maui.

Wells Fargo, trustee for the registered holders of the commercial mortgage securities of which secured the property, filed a foreclosure lawsuit on Monday.  Everett Dowling and Morgan Stanley’s partnership, created to purchase the 1,800 acre resort, owes $192.5 million in principal, interest and late charges.

Dowling Company and Morgan Stanley bought the resort and hotel just a little over 2 years ago from Seibu Group of Japan.  Though the future of Makena Resort is uncertain, Dowling Co. is moving forward with its other Makena Project called Maluaka.  This development has been considerably altered in plans from 69 luxury condominium units to 13 custom homes and a club house.

To read more about this latest Maui Real Estate News, see the BizJournal Article.

UPDATE:

Maui Prince Resort to Stay Open with Name Change!

The Maui Prince Hotel will now be called the Makena Beach and Golf Resort.

Prince Resort Hawaii told the public that it would be shutting down the Maui Prince in 2 weeks, but Wells Fargo bank, trustee of the resort, countered this statement by saying they will keep it open and that funds have been made available to pay off vendors and suppliers that were owed as well as continue payroll.

Management will need to be restructured as the Maui Prince Resort has been showing around a 1 million dollar loss per month.

The Maui Island General Plan provides a guide for the future growth of the island to the year 2030. The Maui Island Plan establishes a vision and a set of long-range guiding principles, goals, objectives, policies and maps to guide the growth and development of the island.

At this time, this Maui Island General Plan is in the “stage 2″ of the review process.  First, the Planning Director took the recommendation of the GPAC (General Plan Advisory Committee). Second the Planning Director’s original draft as well as the newly revised draft with GPAC recommendation are reviewed by the Maui Planning Commission. So far the Maui Planning Commission  had 3 meetings on this already.  A few more meetings are scheduled with the Maui Planning Commission before they finalize their own recommendations regarding the location and amount of future growth for Maui. If you are interested to come, below are the dates, time and location:

August 4, 2009 from 1:30 PM to 8 PM in the Lahaina Civic Center

August 18, 2009 from 9AM to 5 PM in the Planning Department Conference Room

August 25, 2009 from 9AM to 5 PM in the Planning Department Conference Room

This Maui Real Estate And Development Blog will feature the Maui Island General Plan.  A series of posts are coming up here on this topic for us to weigh in on this very important decision for the Maui Island.  Stay tuned and looking forward to your comments.

On June 24th, 2009, a small town public forum was held at the Good Shepherd Church Hall in Wailuku, Maui.  The WMSA (Wailuku Main Street Association) Tri-Isle Main Street Resource Center hosted the event to further educate about the community-based issues of the new plan.  The program, “Maui Island Plan: How It Effects You,” was held for discussion between Maui County representatives, community stakeholders, and the public.

This meeting comes after the Draft Maui Island Plan was received for review on April 21st.  The Planning Commission was given 150 days to review and modify it before passing it on to the Maui County Council.

Members of the panel expressed concern about loss of small town identity.  With 1 policy to act over all areas, it was argued, there will be incongruent policy.  Different areas require different approaches. Examples were cited like the differences between growing industrial towns like Kahului and small farming communities like Kula.

Community leader Jan Yagi Buen explained that the overall problem with the new plan was that it is massive in comparison to the 1990 plan, something that would be difficult to modify.

Other issues with the plan are the lack of specifics in allocating water as well as the protection of diminishing agricultural lands.

A major foreseeable problem in Maui’s future is a lack of education and future jobs.  Once our kids graduate from High School, there’s really not much available to them on Maui.

Long Range Senior Administrator John Summers said, “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us still.”

I admire Andrew Gomes, staff writer for Honolulu Advertiser,  for efficiency, for his quick coverage on the Affordable Housing news on Maui. Yesterday the OEQC published the intent to revise EIS filed for the proposed Ohana Kai Village and Andrew picked it up right away.  He wrote a comprehensive article on Honolulu Advertiser today (as comprehensive as he can considering there are still a lot of variables on this proposed subdivision).

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Jesse Spencer of Wailuku-based Spencer Homes Inc. is proposing to build 1,100 single-family homes, for sale mostly at prices affordable to residents with more-or-less moderate incomes.

The new plan still faces what Spencer said is continued opposition from some area condominium owners and the county Planning Department — both of which opposed the former development plan in favor of keeping the site, which is zoned for agriculture, as open space.

But the developer said he believes the need for affordable housing and construction jobs will garner enough support for the estimated $400 million project to proceed.

To read the full article go to Honolulu Advertiser, click HERE.

More news on this proposed Ohanai Village will be found on this blog.  Stay tuned. We will be posting fresh updates on this proposed affordable housing on Maui, here at Maui Real Estate and Development Blog.