ABOUT PALAMANUI

Q: What is Palamanui?

A: Palamanui is an innovative mixed-use community located on 725 acres just mauka (towards the mountains) of the Kona International Airport on the Big Island of Hawaii. The property is located adjacent to 500 acres of state land that has long been earmarked for higher education and intended to be the future site of the University of Hawaii Center West Hawaii including the Hawaii Community College.

Q: What will Palamanui’s master-planned community consist of?

A. Palamanui will be a mix of single and multi-family residences, some of which will be affordable units, a town center with a 120-room business and leisure hotel and a small town shopping village.

Palamanui will also have a 70-acre business park, health court and lifelong learning center, a 20-acre regional park and a 55-acre native lowland native dry forest preserve.

Q: How far is Palamanui from Kona Airport?

A: One mile north of the Kona Airport on Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway.

Q: How far is Palamanui from the nearest beach?

A: There are many Big Island beaches within a short drive of Palamanui. Two of them are within 2 – 2.6 miles of Palamanui.

Q: What is the weather like?

A: The average temperature is 75 degrees and the average rainfall ranges from 5 to 20 inches. There is a breeze in the evening that results from ocean and mountain effects. The evening breezes tend to be from the mountains towards the ocean and in the morning the breezes tend to shift from the ocean to the land.

Q: What will be in your Town Center?

A: The Palamanui Town Center will have likely have services such as a grocery store, entertainment, gas station, retail shops, apartments, business offices, a hotel and a health and wellness center, a spa, a post office, and family restaurants, an upscale restaurant and a pizza parlor as well as an ice cream parlor.  There will be a video rental store, a flower shop and various boutiques, art and novelty shops.

The Village Green will feature a variety of events for the whole community including fairs, concerts, athletic events and Hawaiian cultural events. There will be lectures and demonstrations and an activities center.

Q: Will there be affordable housing?

A: Yes, Palamanui will provide affordable housing as part of its broad range of home choices.

Q: When will Single Family Homes, Condominiums, Town homes, and home sites be for sale?

A: 2009 is our goal.

Q: What communication services will be available to residents and businesses?

A: Palamanui will offer advanced communications technologies and services through a fiber optic network including:  hi-speed internet services, long distance telephone services, cable television services, and interactive community communication services.

Q. Who is developing Palamanui?

A. Palamanui is being developed by Palamanui, LLC, a partnership between financier Charles Schwab,The Hunt Development Group, and and contractor Guy Lam.

Q. What kind of residential community will Palamanui be?

A. Many of the homes at Palamanui will be priced moderately. There will be enclaves of neighborhood villages ranging from spacious moderately priced condominiums, single-family residences and home sites for those who wish to construct their own custom homes.

Q. What differentiates Palamanui from other Big Island communities?

A. Palamanui is a carefully planned and designed community for living, working and recreation. It will feel like a small town with neighborhoods, a retail village and a dedicated focus on education, lifelong learning, health, wellness, recreation and green, sustainable living. Palamanui’s design reflects a wide range of residential choices, with exceptional views and in convenient proximity to the services people need in their everyday life.

Q. What is the historical or cultural meaning of Palamanui?

A. Palamanui literally translated means ”great enclosure of lama trees (wood).” In the Hawaiian culture, the lama tree is known as a tree of knowledge or enlightenment. Palamanui is also the historical place name for this site. The Ka’u ahupua’a of which Palamanui is a part was once known for residential, cultivation and healing purposes. It is said that Kamehameha III, a staunch advocate for education, owned this ahupua’a. During his reign, there was a strong movement to educate young Hawaiians, a mission that Palamanui has embraced as well.

Palamanui and The University of Hawaii, West Hawaii Center

Q. What is Palamanui’s relationship with the University of Hawaii, West Hawaii Center?

A. Palamanui and the University of Hawaii, West Hawaii Center are working together to create a campus that brings together the educational resources of UH with the financial resources of the private sector. Palamanui will build the camups' initial complex of classrooms, offices and resource centers on the adjacent 500-acres of State-owned lands. This commitment will allow the University to relocate the UH West Hawaii Center (currently operating out of a Shopping Center in Kealakekua) to a central site with more efficient educational facilities for its growing student population. It is anticipated that additional facilities will be added to this complex as the UH Center West Hawaii continues to grow.

Palamanui is also committed to providing the initial roads and infrastructure that will be needed by the University for its own lands. The new University campus will not only serve the needs of Kona residents, but also create a unique destination for international students and people who wish to avail themselves of energetic and interesting lifelong learning programs.

Q. What is the significance of the UH connection to Palamanui?

A.  The connection between Palamanui and UH is a mutually beneficial private-public sector partnership that will give Palamanui residents an opportunity to learn and to explore subjects they simply have not had the time or opportunity to delve into previously. Apart from the UH curriculum, several “magnet“ programs will feature intensive specialty classes taught by world class educators, experts, authorities in a course time frame tailored to their time and interest. Palamanui and the UH Center West Hawaii will become a destination for people from all over the world who want to immerse themselves in subjects that will broaden and enhance their lives.

Q. Will this campus impact the Big Island community?

A: On the mainland, many people prefer to live in small college towns because of the intellectual stimulation and the opportunity to interact with educators and interesting, thoughtful people. Palamanui and the Kona community will definitely benefit from an atmosphere that opens one’s mind to new experiences and fresh and first time possibilities for personal growth.

Q. How will this campus fit into the entire UH system?

A. University of Hawaii, West Hawaii Center and future planning studies clearly indicate that West Hawai’i is the most educationally underserved geographical region in the system. To supplement the area’s burgeoning economic activity and steady growth over the years. UH planners recognize the importance of beginning work on a modern, progressive higher education complex for the Kona/West Hawai’i community.

Q. How was this location selected?

A. In 1991, the UH Board of Regents selected the 500-acre parcel of vacant land east of the Kona Airport as a suitable site for a new educational complex. This site is now known as the permanent future home of the UH West Hawaii Center campus (currently operating out of rented facilities in Kealakekua).

ABOUT THE FUTURE

Q. How will Palamanui positively impact the Big Island community economically, socially and culturally?

A. Palamanui is a master planned Big Island community that will provide work opportunities for island residents. Socially, the Town Village is envisioned to be a gathering place for the community and, by design, will encourage neighborhood interaction. The adjacent UH Center West Hawai’i will be the focal point of specialty classes with an emphasis on diversified Hawaiian Studies topics.

A 20-acre regional park will be developed as part of the Palamanui community and dedicated to the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation upon completion.

A 55-acre native lowland native dry forest and archaeological and cave preserves will be set aside for restoration and preservation purposes. Palamanui will partner with the UH Center West Hawaii and several community organizations in the long-term restoration and stewardship of these areas.

Palamanui is building two new roads that will connect and provide alternate routes through the heart of Palamanui and the UH Center West Hawai’i to Mamalahoa Highway and from the Queen Kaahumanu Highway to Kaiminani Drive.

Palamanui is also building a new potable water system that will connect the Department of Water Supply’s system. The system will be dedicated to the county upon completion.

Q. When will construction begin?

A. Construction began August 2007.

Q. What are some key construction highlights?

Work on the backbone infrastructure to service both Palamanui’s 725-acres and the adjacent 500 acres of state-owned land Began in August 2007. Mass grading and site preparation will continue through early ’09 with initial residences, commercial buildings, a business/leisure hotel and the neighboring UH Center West Hawai’I educational complex expected to open in late ’09.

Q: Will Palamanui have an 18-hole golf course?

A. No. There are 12 golf courses available to the public within 3-20 miles of Palamanui.

Q: Will Palamanui be a green community?

A. Yes. When completed, Palamanui will be a carefully planned and designed community, one dedicated to education, sustainability, health and wellness.

Palamanui, HI: On the Big Island of Hawaii, a new Hawaiian hillside town located in the hills above Kona