Ag Research Center Acquires Kunia Land
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Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, which expanded its lab and field operations in Kunia last year, has officially acquired the 119-acre Kunia Plantation Village property from James Campbell Co. for an agri-business complex.
It’s located off Kunia Road about two miles south of Schofield Barracks and six miles north of its new field station, which opened last year across from Kunia Shopping Center.
The move gives Central Oahu a new site for processing agricultural products mixed with affordable housing. The nonprofit agency has its office there but will retain the 115 village rental homes and its rural heritage.
“We envision an ag complex for supportive businesses with long-term leases,” said Stephanie Whalen, HARC’s president and research director. Some long-term lessees already are on board, including the Mililani-based Takenaka Nurseries, which donated hundreds of palm trees and ti leaf seeds to HARC’s community service day on May 29.
Villagers, HARC staff and workers from 24 companies all pitched in that day to plant the trees and seeds, paint the gym’s interior and erect two school bus stops for village students, Whalen said.
“We’re applying for a grant to fix up the homes and facilities,” she added. But she points out the land’s main purpose is “infrastructure support for ag needs.”
HARC was granted a zoning variance on the Ag 1 parcel which permits agribusiness use as well as the rental units and other noncon-forming buildings - the old gym and schoolhouse, post office and scattered warehouses from the Del Monte pineapple era. (The last harvest was in 2008.)
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