Historic Kailua Village’s 55-year-old shopping center on track for first major renovation
The plans for the Kona Seaside Shops, which were built in the early 1970s, call for demolishing three of the five buildings and renovating the rest of the property to create an "inviting gateway" to the Aliʻi Drive retail corridor.
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The Kona Seaside Shops is quite popular as the home of Big Kahuna Beach Grill, Ka‘ū Coffee Roasters Café, the surf shop Pacific Vibrations, the ice cream shop Homegrown Cone and the jewelry store Sparked with Aloha.
But the shopping center, at age 55 and one of the oldest in the Historic Kailua Villages, is showing its decades of wear and tear.
Now, the Edmund C. Olson Trust, owners of the shopping center, have plans to create an “inviting gateway” to the Ali‘i Drive retail corridor by renovating the 33,411-square-foot parcel of prime real estate.
On Thursday, the Hawai‘i County Leeward Planning Commission granted the trust’s application for a Special Management Area Use Permit to demolish three of the center’s five buildings and renovate the other two at an estimated cost of $5 million for the project.
The Hawaiʻi State Department of Land and Natural Resources provided a letter to the commission when the permit request was first made, saying the renovation would have a low impact on subsurface historic properties.
“I believe that Kailua-Kona Village needs a big uplift,” Leeward Planning Commission Chair Dean Au said in support of the project.
The chair expressed his appreciation to John C. Cross, the trust’s senior land manager, for presenting a plan to make Ali‘i Drive more enjoyable.
The Kona Seaside Shops are at 75-5663 Palani Road, approximately 100 feet northeast of the intersection with Aliʻi Drive. Its first three buildings were constructed in 1971 and two more went up in 1975. No major renovations have ever been done.
Following the meeting, Cross told Big Island Now the next step in the process is to take their plans to the Kailua Village Design Committee, which manages and approves designs and color schemes for the downtown area.
Once that is done, the trust will apply for building permits and look for a contractor to perform the work, Cross said.
The trust purchased the property in July 2021 and submitted their Special Management Area Use Permit application to the Planning Commission in December 2025.
The site is currently anchored by a two-story building with Big Kahuna Beach Grill on the second story and the Ka‘ū Coffee shop on the first.
That 6,385-square-foot structure will be renovated, with construction of a 606-square-foot addition.
The permit also approves adding 1,512 square feet to an existing 3,057-square-foot retail building. The new space is for a new restaurant. Currently, Pacific Vibrations is in that building.
Three of the buildings are vacant and have lease signs in their windows. All buildings slated for demolition are vacant.
The permit also allows for the construction of two 200-square-foot kiosks, a 675-square-foot area for outdoor seating, new landscaping and the renovation of a courtyard and parking area that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Cross said there is no plan to kick any of the current tenants out of the shopping area, and hope they do not need to.
“We’re going to try our best to make allowances,” Cross said.
The shopping area will have 27 dedicated vehicle parking spaces and 20 bicycle stalls. This includes the original 16 parking spaces already located on the property and an additional 11 parking spaces and bicycle park.
“We look forward to brightening up the Ali‘i Drive Corridor,” Cross told the Planning Commission.
