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Ulupono Town Center has been designed and is being developed to provide a premier location for a variety of businesses that demand the visibility and access of a neighborhood shopping center with the flexibility of owning or leasing a free standing building, storefront or warehouse facility permitting a variety of retail, office and light industrial uses. The second phase of the project is now under construction; the first phase having created two sites one of which is the home of the Kea'au branch of the CU Hawaii Federal Credit Union. Ulupono Town Center is located at the corner of Keaau Pahoa Bypass Road (State Highway 130); it is 8.5 miles from the Hilo International Airport and the Hilo pier with container and surface cargo shipping facilities. The primary market area for the center is the District of Puna whose current population is estimated at between 35,000 and 36,000 and is projected to exceed 40,000 by 20091. The Kea'au Pahoa Bypass Road is the principal arterial road connecting Hilo and the fast growing residential communities of Lower Puna, comprising approximately 2/3rd of the entire population of the district. In addition, Ulupono Town Center is located 1/2 mile to the east of the intersection of State Highway 11, and 1 mile west of the Kea'au Public School complex providing K-12 education for the district; thus the location captures the daily traffic commuting to school from Upper Puna. Twelve lots are being offered for sale in the second phase. These properties are fee simple and zoned Industrial-Commercial Mixed District (MCX) which provides for some industrial uses among commercial uses. In addition, private controls and guidelines for Ulupono Town Center supplement the county zoning and will enhance and maintain the value and quality of the properties. The individual commercial lots will be accessed by a 60 feet wide public street that includes curbs and 7 feet wide pedestrian sidewalks linking all the properties. Each lot will have potable water provided with service laterals installed to connect to the County of Hawaii's Department of Water Supply system; HawaiianTel telephone lines and Hawaiian Electric Light Company service lines providing single and three phase service will be available from the street. "Ulupono" has been defined in English as “To grow well; progressive, thriving, successful.”2 Transliterated to English Ulu is “growth” and “Pono” is “goodness”. The Hawaiian word for breadfruit, ‘Ulu, differs in pronunciation from Ulu by the glottal stop at the beginning of the word indicated by the ‘okina. ‘Ulu leaf pattern and fruit was chosen to graphically represent Ulupono Town Center because of this off rhyme and a purely poetic reason: The ‘Ulu was a source of nourishment in times of famine. The tree produced its starchy fruit during droughts when other crops would fail; the presence of ‘Ulu trees allowed the people to thrive and its cultivation demonstrated their providence. |
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