Wailele Ridge – Slow Progress

Almost a year and a half ago (April 2016), I was excitedly attending the lottery for the sale of the condos at Wailele Ridge, in Napili. Great location, great views, good neighborhood concept, a variety of floorplans, all these were the ingredients of a successful development. Yet, a variety of challenges have delayed the construction. Although one can see that civil work is being done, “going vertical” will (at best) start January 2018, as per the developer’s representatives.

Wailele Ridge Construction Sept 2017

Wailele Ridge is facing quite a conundrum.

On one hand, some of the delays are caused by the fact that the development may not be “penciling out”  for the developer from Utah that may have discovered that doing business in the islands has some unanticipated challenges and costs. According to the Coconut Wire, the whole development is for sale and various investors looked into it. Obviously, none of them figured out yet how to make it worthwhile.

Wailele Ridge Construction Sept 2017

On the other hand, the inventory of 2 bed and 3 bed units in West Maui has dried up dramatically this year. There are only 12 two bed units for sale, priced under $500,000, with a starting price of $300,000. For 3 bed units, the situation is quite dire: prices start at $521,000 and there are only 5 units priced under $677,000 and ZERO listings from $677,000 to $1mil. A very polarized segment of the market, indeed.  Meanwhile, Kahoma Village in Lahaina is raising a lot of interest (buyers may have to start waiting in line the night before the release, to get a chance to choose a market value 3bd home, priced in the mid $600,000’s). But Kahoma Village construction is moving fast, they are already going vertical and completion is estimated to happen summer to fall 2018. One can only expect a significantly increased interest in Wailele Ridge, should construction progress much faster.

So, what to do? If you are already under contract for a unit at Wailele Ridge, hang in there! If you are not, this is maybe a good time to get under contract, before the frenzy begins.