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The UH West Oʻahu mauka and makai land parcels

The University of Hawaiʻi owns two pieces of property in the West Oʻahu area.

The larger parcel is referred to as the mauka lands, which consist of 991-acres of mostly undeveloped land that includes a large hill that borders the property on its north side. The other borders consist of the freeway on the parcel’s southern edge, the Grace Pacific Quarry on the west, the Honouliuli Gulch on the eastern edge and privately owned land beyond the hill to the north.

Two hundred and ninety-four acres of the mauka lands, which run along the freeway and follow the gulch, are flatter and more developable. The rest of the 991 acres is hilly. Unpaved roads accessible only through locked gates traverse the land. One of the roads leads to a Board of Water Supply storage tank on the eastern side of the hill that supplies water to UH West Oʻahu.

The original plan called for the UH West Oʻahu campus to be built on the mauka lands. However, infrastructure costs and the cost to grade the property were determined to be too expensive.

The second of UH’s parcels is referred to as the makai lands—the 500 acre parcel where the UH West Oʻahu campus is located.

Farrington Highway runs along the northern edge of the property with the Kapolei Golf Course on the western side and the Kualakaʻi Parkway on the eastern and southern borders, including a small section which is the backside of Kaneoneo Street (the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands residential subdivision).

The university’s five buildings, courtyard, great lawn, parking area and roadway access are located on the northern end of the property along Farrington Highway and extend to the south. This area also includes six acres that Tokai University bought from UH and is currently building its campus on.

The proposed land plan will set aside approximately 300 acres of the makai lands for the future UH West Oʻahu campus and related university uses. The remainder of the property will be designated for mixed-use, commercial and residential development that will complement the university environment and will help support the growth of the campus.

The Kapolei area is experiencing a tremendous amount of growth that is expected to continue for years to come.

The Honolulu Rail Transit system’s current eastern terminus, the East Kapolei Station, will be on Kualakaʻi Parkway, where there is already a Hawaiian Homelands development and the Kroc Community Center. The UH West Oʻahu station will be also be located along Kualakaʻi and will have a pedestrian overpass and a touchdown site on university property at the entrance of Road B. Road B will soon be under construction and will provide access to the West Oʻahu campus from Kualakaʻi.

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