Land to be preserved in Honouliuli area

This is good news for the ‘aina.  The Gill family and another investor bought 4000 acres from the former Campbell Estate to keep in conservation and agriculture.  This will benefit part of the Wai’anae coast and the forest areas of the southern Wai’anae range, which is an important conservation area for endangered Hawaiian species.  The adjacent parcel in the northern Honouliuli preserve was recently purchased by the Trust for Public Land. As the following article notes, the biggest investor was the Army.

Why would the Army invest in a conservation land trust?   The Army actually has a program called the “conservation buffer” program, which helps nonprofit groups to purchase land for conservation purposes to create “buffers” for military training activities.  The Trust for Public Land has also partnered with the Army to acquire land in Moanalua Valley and Pupukea, overlooking the North Shore.  Sounds like a good thing right?  Win-win?  The Pupukea purchase is problematic because it strengthened the Army’s grip on land in the Ko’olau range and enabled it to increase its training areas (and destructive activities) in the North Shore as part of the Stryker Brigade expansion.

While these conservation projects are good projects that deserve support, the Army funding has effectively bought the silence and compliance of some environmental groups.

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http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20091016/BUSINESS04/910160332/Gills++partner+acquire+Campbell+tract

Posted on: Friday, October 16, 2009

Gills, partner acquire Campbell tract

Family says it has no plans to develop 4,000-acre property

By Andrew Gomes

Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii’s prominent Gill family and an investment partner have bought close to 4,000 acres on Oahu from the James Campbell Co. with an intent to keep the land in agriculture and preservation uses.

The family, including six children and the brother of the late former Lt. Gov. and U.S. Rep. Tom Gill, acquired the property with California native and longtime Hawaii landowner Edmund C. Olson.

The buyers paid $15 million for the vast tract of land, which runs along the eastern slope of the Waianae Range from Makakilo to Kunia and also stretches leeward near the Kahe Power Plant.

A representative of the Gill-Olson joint venture, local labor attorney Tony Gill, said the group doesn’t intend to develop the property, about half of which is zoned for agriculture and half for conservation.

“We approach this with a tremendous respect for the history and traditions up there,” he said.

Some of the land is leased out for a variety of income-producing uses, including two ranch operations, telecommunications towers and Camp Timberline.

The land also is viewed as having potential for alternative energy production such as a wind farm, though Gill said the new owners are just beginning to evaluate the property and haven’t devised any plans.

“Campbell has been up there 150 years (as an owner), and we expect to be there at least as long,” he said.

Along with the Gill-Olson purchase, Campbell Co. sold an adjacent piece of land covering about 3,600 acres to the nonprofit Trust for Public Land for $4 million.

The land contains the Honouliuli Preserve, which is overseen by The Nature Conservancy and is slated to be transferred to the state in the near future for conservation protection.

The trust secured most of the money for the purchase from the Army, which manages part of the property, as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Legacy Lands Fund and the city Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund.

Both sales closed Sept. 30.

Campbell Co., which marketed the land for sale through commercial real estate brokerage firm CBRichard Ellis, had sought $22.5 million for the combined 6,500 acres, but also preferred to sell the land to conservation-minded buyers.

Theresia McMurdo, a Campbell Co. spokeswoman, said both buyers have environmental and cultural values that are consistent with the property. “That was the main criteria,” she said.

Gill said the acquisition is the first venture into major land investing for the family hui, which includes his brothers Eric, Gary, Ivan and Tim, his sister, Andrea, his uncle Lorin, and Lorin’s godchildren.

Olson heads Los Angeles-based A-American Storage Management Co., which is one of the country’s largest self-storage businesses with several locations in Hawaii.

A part-time Big Island resident, Olson owns about 13,000 acres there and is a partner in OK Farms LLC. He also bought 1,296 acres in Kunia on Oahu from Campbell Co. three years ago for $4 million.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.