Proposed new Maui Medical Plaza in Kahului would provide much-needed medical care. “It is crucial that we build this.”As the debate over healthcare on Maui intensifies, there is a solution that is hanging in the balance. But there is just one problem—no one seems to know about it. Two years ago, Benjamin Brown, Dr. James Hansen and Robert McDaniel met to discuss plans for a new, privately funded medical facility to meet the healthcare needs of island residents. The result was the proposed 100,000-square-foot Maui Medical Plaza, slated for construction at 151 Hana Highway in Kahului.
The development team designed the Maui Medical Plaza as a state-of-the-art, professional center that could house more than 20 medical practices. Eager to begin the building process, the visionaries employed architects to design a user-friendly, LEED-certified facility that would reflect the architectural character of the community while leaving little impact on the surrounding environment.
After assembling a team of local planners, engineers and medical professionals, the development team was ready to bring the Maui Medical Plaza to life. But one last item remained.
Armed with rolls of blueprints, the development team arrived in Wailuku to present the project to the Maui County Urban Review Board, the county Planning Department and members of the Maui County Council. Although the county expressed great enthusiasm for the project, two years later, the developers are still patiently waiting for their dream to come true.
Due to its proximity to the wetland area of the Kanaha Pond Wildlife Sanctuary—home to threatened and endangered species—the project encountered a major hurdle of securing a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. While the proposed site for the facility does not sit on a designated wetland area, there were several criteria that needed to be met before the federal agencies could issue a jurisdictional determination.
Undeterred, the development team completed a battery of archaeological studies, engineering surveys and environmental and ecological reports to determine the best method of construction, before traveling to O‘ahu to meet with officials from each agency.
Upon visiting the site, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted its own studies and concluded, “[the location is] not the last of its kind, not unique in Hawai‘i, and of marginal value as a wetland, if that.”
In addition, representatives from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined no endangered plants or wildlife existed on the building site, requesting only the removal of invasive species and the replenishing of any native plants or trees.
However, the wetland issue is still under debate. According to McDaniel, in June, officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers delivered a jurisdictional determination concluding a portion of the site could function as a water filtration method, but required the developers to mitigate that function with clean, new-fill material, in addition to installing water retention and storage filtration structures on the building site.
With the assistance of local wetland scientists, McDaniel said a wetland mitigation plan is underway and should be completed and submitted to the Corps by the end of the month. To further expedite the process, the development team is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure flight path compatibility and safety, state Department of Transportation to resolve any traffic issues, state Department of Health Clean Water Branch, State of Hawai‘i Office of Environmental Quality Control and various county agencies.
If all goes according to plan, McDaniel said he hopes to break ground within the next few months. And he is not alone. The Maui Medical Plaza is already filling up with tenants from all medical fields, from cardiologists to pharmacists. Leasing reservations have already been signed by several Maui physicians, while others have expressed interest in reserving a space. In addition, U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka submitted a formal inquiry to possibly relocate the Maui Community-Based Outpatient Clinic for Maui’s veterans to the new facility.
After two years, the news of the facility is just starting to spread. “There are many in the healthcare community who are surprised to hear about us,” said Brown.
But once the project works its way through the twists and turns of permitting, the Maui Medical Plaza development team will breathe a sigh of relief. “This is a vital addition to Maui’s healthcare system,” said Brown. “It is crucial that we build this.”
For more information, visit www.MauiMedicalPlaza.com.