Courtney Brown

An Update on the Maui Luxury Real Estate Market: Kapalua and Makena

When considering areas of Maui, many consider the Wailea/Makena area and Kapalua. Both are luxury resort destinations, though both have different climates and feel. The Wailea/Makena areas are a desert climate, and the development is high end and varied (due to many different developers). Kapalua is a smaller community, with a more temperate climate. With only one developer, the architectural theme of the resort has remained and the development is fairly consistent throughout.

This week, another Residence at the Ritz-Carton Residences, Kapalua Bay has been placed under reservation. 2503, which was personally one of my favorite locations, was offered at $6,860,000. This new reservation joins three others at the property that just completed at the end of May.

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Kapalua Bay are Maui's newest luxury condominium resort development. With the news that the development at Makena Resort has been stalled by a default on the original loan, the Residences are likely to be the latest luxury development for some time.

The Makena Resort development was proposed by Maui developer, Everett Dowling, who purchased the 1800 acre resort in partnership with Morgan Stanley Real Estate. The initial phase of the new development was known as Maluaka. Originally proposed to be a luxury, low-density, low-rise, residential condomium community, the property was eventually subdivided and marketed as 13 residential lots. The Maui News reports that Maluaka will continue, as it is under a separate LLC with its own financing. While the fate of the Makena Resort development is uncertain, the developer hopes to resurrect the plans to develop the Makena Resort as a high end resort destination.

For those seeking a newly constructed, luxury oceanfront property, the Ritz-Carlton Residences provide branded service and a stunning setting. Current asking prices at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Kapalua Bay begin at $3,885,000 and range upward of $9,395,000. The Residences are between 3000-4000 square feet, and three and four bedroom floorplans are available.

Please don't hesitate to contact me for additional information on any Maui real estate offering.

Restaurants in The Kapalua Resort Take Home Top Honors
Each year, the readers of Maui No Ka Oi Magazine choose the best Maui Restaurants in the magazine's annual "Aipono Awards". Since the magazine began the Aipono Awards, they are some of the most coveted accolades, and provide the best guide to dining on Maui. This year, my favorite restaurants in the Kapalua Resort took home medals in a variety of categories:

Pineapple Grill
Gold Award: Restaurant of the Year
Gold Award: Best Wine List (Insider hint: try their Wine Wednesdays!)
Silver Award: Best Seafood

Merrimans
Gold Award: Best New Restaurant
Insider hint: if you're in the mood for a lighter dinner, or just catching the sunset, dine outdoors on the lighter pupu menu. Tables are set out along the point, with breathtaking views of Kapalua Bay. As it gets dark, the fire pit makes it a cozy spot to talk the night away.

Sansei
Gold Award: Best Sushi
Gold Award: Best Late Night
Silver Award: Best Asian
Insider Hint: The line is often longest on Sundays and Mondays, when Kama'aina receive 50% off from 5:30-6:00. The rest of the week, the line is shorter, and there's always a 25% discount for that same happy half hour, no matter where you're from.

The Banyan Tree
Silver Award: Best Service

Kai
Silver: Best Sushi
Insider Hint: this restaurant off the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton is the best place on the island if you are craving sushi, but have a few in your party that aren't sushi fans. You can sit in the Alaloa Lounge (Silver Award for Best Lounge) in the lobby or in the restaurant, and order off the bar menu (fantastic burgers and more). Plus, the Lounge has comfy couches and great music.

For more information on the Aipono Awards and their Winemaker's Dinner Series, which benefits the Maui Culinary Academy, visit Maui No Ka Oi Magazine's website.

Each month, the Kapalua Spa offers a Kama'aina Special for those of us lucky enough to call Hawaii home. This month, local residents enjoy special pricing on Facials: $120 for any 50 minute facial or $160 for any 80 minute facial. The Kapalua Spa's facial menu is extensive, offering treatments that incorporate Hawaiian healing practices and traditional methods.

For those of you visiting the islands, not to worry, the Kapalua Spa is running a special along with the Kapalua Villas until 9/30/09: Those staying three nights at the everyday rate at the Kapalua Villas enjoy free spa treatments. For more information, you can book online or call 888-297-1920.

The Kama'aina Special offer extends to 8/31/09, and you must present a Hawaiian drivers license. For more information, please call 866-627-2206 or 808-665-8282.

The question I'm most often asked is "Who Owns Kapalua"?

Kapalua Resort is currently owned and operated by Kapalua Land Company, whose parent company is Maui Land and Pineapple (ML&P). In addition to owning approximately 23,000 acres that surround the Kapalua Resort, ML&P also cultivates Maui Gold Pineapple on 2,000 acres of farmland, and owns and manages the 8,300 acre Puu Kukui Watershed Preserve and the 3,300 acre Honolua-Mokuleia Maring Life Conservation Districts.

The Kapalua Resort has its foundation in farming and ranching the land that would be known as Honolua Ranch, began in the 1800's by the Baldwin family. By the late 1800's/early 1900's, the work that would become the Maunalei Arboretum began as the Baldwins, with the help of DT Fleming, planted crops of coffee, taro, mango, aloe vera, pineapple, and those famous cook pine trees that line the roadways of Kapalua.

Pineapple became a serious business, and a large part of the land dedicated to the Ranch soon became known as Honolua Plantation. In the 1930's Maui Pineapple Company was formed by J. Walter Cameron, a descendant of the Baldwins. It was the vision of his son, Colin Cameron, to develop what would become one of the world's favorite resort destinations, the Kapalua Resort. Beaches, Golf, Tennis, and Hiking Trails all allow visitors and Kama'aina alike the opportunity to enjoy the resort's natural beauty.

In the late 1970's the Kapalua Bay Hotel was built, along with the Bay Villas, Golf Villas, Ridge Villas and the Ironwoods. In the late 1980's the residential communities of Pineapple Hill and the beachfront Kapalua Place were added to the resort, followed closely by the Plantation Estates in 1990. In the late 1990's the second phase of Plantation Estates was introduced. The small beachfront condominium community , the Coconut Grove, completed in 2001. Then the focus shifted back to residential subdivisions, with the addition of Pineapple Hill Estates and the Honolua Ridge Phases I and II. With the renovation of the Ritz-Carlton, the next condominium offering was the Residential Suites at the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. Finally, this year marked the most recent addition to the Kapalua Resort with the luxury condominium community, the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Kapalua Bay, replacing the Bay Hotel.

For the second quarter, ML&P reported losses of approximately $54 million. Company revenue was down due to a slow in the visitor industry, along with declines in agriculture and the real estate markets. You can read more in the Honolulu Advertiser. It is noteworthy that the quarterly report details only one closing of the Ritz-Carlton Residences during the second quarter. As the project has been completed, more Residences have closed.

The company I work for, Kapalua Realty, is also owned by Maui Land and Pineapple. For more information on Maui Land and Pineapple, visit the company's website: www.mauiland.com

Kapalua Resort Real Estate Market Update:

The latest issue of my Kapalua Resort Newsletter is now available online. The resort market does seem to be picking up slightly this month over last, though sales are still slow when compared to the same time in 09.

The following is a brief overview:

• Active Listings: There are a total of 137 active listings in the resort, ranging from $515,000 to $19,500,000. Of these listings, 10 were new listings (down from 20 new listings last month), ranging from a low of $735,000 for a one bedroom Golf Villa to a high of $8,250,000 for a home in Plantation Estates II.
• Short Sales/REO's: There are two potential short sales noted in MLS. Ridge Villa 1511 was foreclosed on by the lender.
• New Development Sales: While information can be hard to calculate with regard to developer sales, as they are not posted in MLS, I have heard that 4 sales have occurred at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Kapalua Bay
• Escrows: There are currently 4 escrows
• Closings: There were three closings: A one bedroom Golf Villa for $520,000, a two bedroom Golf Villa for $550,000 and a beautifully renovated home in Pineapple Hill I at $2,650,000.
• 2009 vs. 2008 YTD: We have had 9 closings year to date in 2009. By comparison, we had 20 closings as of this date in 2008.

THE FOLLOWING CHARTS COMPARE THIS PAST MONTH WITH THE PREVIOUS MONTH AND THE YEAR TO DATE FIGURES FOR 2009 VS. SAME PERIOD IN 2008.

Overall Resort

Condominiums

Land

Homes

For more information on Kapalua and Maui real estate, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Aloha!