A Look Inside Ho’olei
It’s always such a treat to go to our office at Ho’olei, a project I’ve been apart of since its inception in 2004. Wow, that would mean I am now celebrating 10 years of being a part of this amazing property! Spread out over 30 acres, and consisting of 120 3 bed/3.5 bath, 2 story, town home style villas, this neighborhood defines island-inspired luxury. We stopped into our real estate information office and I was really happy to introduce Takeshi and Yoshi to our Broker in Charge, Chris Arnesen.
One particular aspect about working at Ho’olei that is just amazing is when we are in our ofice, people stop by to say hi from all over the world. We have friends from Frankfurt, Germany; Calgary, Canada; and Seoul, South Korea who all call Ho’olei home for part of the year. It’s really fantastic to service clients that have now become close friends of ours.
And Ho’olei is a really wonderful place for families to gather, as the layout allows for multi generational guests, where parents bring their kids and grandkids. It’s these very kids and grandkids that tend to get the most out of our great relationship with the Grand Wailea (specifically, its world-class spa and pools) right across the street!
This is truly a full-service property. You could BBQ on the private lanai, watch movies with the living room’s entertainment center, then retreat to the comfort and relaxation of your own suite. Additionally, all the interiors are incredible, thanks to friend Eddie Takaesu at Maui Custom Woodworks. Some of the finishings include Snaidero cabinets from Italy, as well as Wolf and Sub Zero appliances. Overall, this has been one of the more successful neighborhoods selling in Wailea since its launch and a flagship property in my portfolio.
Hokulani Golf Villas & RE/MAX Lifestyle Corporate HQ
From there, it was a quick stop by the new RE/MAX Lifestlye corporate office, located in the Wailea Town Center. It’s quite the enjoyable workspace, removed from the bustle of the communities, and I particularly love how our new logo shows a passion and commitment to world-class service, while honoring a foundation solidified by aloha.
After that, it was a short 10 minutes back up the Pi’ilani highway towards the Hokulani Golf Villas where my oldest son, Anthony, was working. One thing is for sure, we’re so excited to be opening our new models, it’s a major milestone for the community! Currently, our single story floor plan is the only one open, but the other 2 will be completed in the next couple weeks and be ready for our grand opening weekend November 21-23 (be sure to stay tuned for more info about the block party, which should be November 21st). The interior design group from HUE did an amazing job, and it was really just so cool to see Anthony and Kim holding down this new home.
My whole team is really proud of this neighborhood and can’t wait to provide families with their dream home. Additionally, we are thrilled to announce a new partnership with the surrounding Maui Nui Golf Club. Starting immediately, we are offering a program that will provide a year’s worth of unlimited golf for new buyers that come in to purchase. You heard that right, free golf for 52 weeks when you buy a Hokulani Golf Villa! We’re doing this because we stand behind our product and want to showcase the elegance of these homes and top notch quality of construction provided by the builder, Hollanti Custom Homes, and developer, Mike McGrath of Signature Homes. I am honored to be a part of this team.
Ke Ali’i Kai
No Maui real estate tour would be complete without sharing some success from the past, so we visited one of our bigger ones at Ke Ali’i Kai. This 25 acre parcel was divvied up into 95 single family homes and is a neighborhood that I am so proud to have done with Takeshi. Again he represented the owners of Towne Realty Group, with myself representing a RE/MAX broker owner from Woodland Park, Colorado, Allen Brown.
We brainstormed and worked with our arhitectual team to create homes to be really be proud of! Every one of them had solar panels and dual-glazed windows for better energy efficiency. In fact, we were the first designated green neighborhood in the entire state of Hawaii! Ke Ali’i Kai has been a tremendous addition for all of South Maui and a model for the more efficient neighborhoods that are commonplace now. It’s located directly across from Kamali’i Elementary School (where my 2 youngest boys actually attended), which makes it oh so convenient for famlies. Furthermore, it’s right up the street from Kamaole Beach I and the amenities of South Kihei Road—really an exceptional location. This is a project that Takeshi and I started working on in 2000, and something I will always look back on fondly. Also it reminds me how much I look foward to working on more devlopments with Takeshi in the future—he’s very knowledgeable about the devlopment business, and overall, simply a smart guy who’s always fun to be around and work with.
Sunset from Kai Malu
Mama’s Fish House
After viewing an absolutely fire-laced descent of the sun into the depths of the Pacific, it was off to the other side of the island and personally, my favorite restaurant in the world—Mama’s Fish House. Everything about this establishment exudes quality—the presentation, flowers, food, service, location, attention and eye for detail—they all standout. Mama’s is also known to hire local artists to decorate and create their various, intertwining dining and drinking spaces.
As always, we were treated to some standout dishes, including fried Opakapaka kama and Onaga sauteed with macadamia nuts and vanilla bean. The whole experience was quite exceptional, from valet to host, hostess, and GM, everyone treats you like family and it really makes for an unforgetful experience. This is a must-visit to take friends when holidaying, everyone is always so impressed. In fact, Yoshi and Takeshi were both first timers, and I can gurantee, it won’t be their last!
Maui Halloween 2014—Front Street Lahaina
After dinner we stopped by Kuau Bayview to visit Anthony and his fiance, Shannon, who were in the ghoulish spirit and wearing spooky costumes. This neighborhood is really close to Paia, about a 5 minute walk, and features a wonderful park above. It was devloped by AB Properties, and is just one of the nicest little communities on the North Shore. It’s wide, well-lit streets also made it a popular destination for the night’s trick-or-treaters, and Anthony even estimated they received over 200 of them during the course of the evening!
Following Kuau, we headed across the valley to the Kehalani master plan community, where there was one the best haunted houses I’d ever seen. It was nice to be back here as Kehalani was a community that I was actually Broker in Charge of 20 years ago in 1994! We then ventured next door to Nanea, which Spencer Homes purchased from C Brewer Homes to devlop. Nanea consists of 80 single family homes, and was another great neighborhood for kids to walk this evening, The 5 couldesacs with 12 homes, and 1 long streeet with 20 formed a serious sense of community.
After that we saw some of the neighborhoods that Towne Realty had developed and Takeshi had worked on. However, at that point it was getting pretty late, so I announced there was one more treat in store for my friends! From Wailuku, we headed over to the world-famous Halloween parade on Front Street in Lahaina, affectionally known as the “Mardi Gras of the Pacific.” This year’s festivities were especially raucous, fueled no doubt that it rested on a Friday. At latest estimates, there was about 35,000 people reveling in the streets, with the heart of Front Street closed off. As expected, we saw some very creative costumes, and I know Yoshi felt privileged to see this celebration on his first day on Maui. Halloween 2014, I’m sure one he’ll always remember…
Wrapping up Day 1
I know it’s hard to believe we did all these things in one day, but we really wanted to give Yoshi an overall experience of the Island—from cental Kahului to Kihei, Wailea and Makena; to the north shore of Paia and Kuau, then up through Wailuku, before finally finishing in Lahaina—it will undoubtedly be a day we’ll all remember. We had to show our friend from RE/MAX Japan what Maui truly has to offer. From the beautiful micro-climates to quaint little towns, the people, food, aloha spirit and uniquness of each location makes our island so special. Some would even argue (there might be some slight bias here), the best in the world!