RANK PREVIOUS COMPANY
1 1 Dowling Co.
2 2 Alexander & Baldwin
3 3 Maui Land & Pineapple Co.
4 4 Tesoro Hawai`i
5 5 Weinberg Foundation
6 6 Makena Resort
7 8 Maui Electric Co.
8 9 Wailuku Water Co.
9 7 Hawaiian Telcom
10 10 Monsanto Hawai`i
MAKENA DOOMED?
For the second week in a row, Everett Dowling sits at the top of the heap. And why not? The Maui Planning Commission recently approved his ultra-luxurious 72-unit development right on Makena Beach. It won’t happen for at least another year or more, but in all likelihood Dowling will get to build five buildings—each up to 65 feet high—full of condos costing on average $3 million a piece. Though three commissioners did raise concerns about the project’s placement right on the beach in one of Maui’s more archaeologically sensitive locations, the rest of the panel gave it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Except for giving a few public parking spaces in a paved lot, Dowling got virtually everything he wanted. In fact, he doesn’t even have to comply with the new workforce housing law overwhelmingly adopted by the Maui County Council—instead of paying in-lieu fees of $1 million per unit for the project’s complete lack of affordable housing (the super-wealthy apparently get hives if working class people live within five miles of them), Dowling only has to pay $100,000 per unit. And that, my friends, is real power.
DISCONNECTED
Sad news for all you bereaved, suffering Hawaiian Telcom customers out there: looks like relief might not get here until sometime late next year, according to the Nov. 16 Honolulu Advertiser. “There still remains a significant amount of work to be done,” CEO Michael Ruley said, according to the paper. “It will be several quarters before we think we can return to a more normal operating mode than the one we’re in today.” Return? The company hasn’t been “normal” since the well-heeled private equity firm Carlyle Group bought it back in early 2005. MTW
Comments
comments