July 2005

Hui No`eau Visual Arts Center Completes Kaluanui Purchase

On June 27, 2005 Hui No`eau Visual Arts Center completed the purchase of the Kaluanui lands from Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. The closing of this property sale represents the successful conclusion of several months of negotiations mediated by Mayor Alan Arakawa.

“We are pleased that all parties have managed to work closely with one another over the past several months to keep Kaluanui as a community resource,” said Mayor Arakawa. “I particularly want to commend Maui Land & Pineapple Company for its great flexibility in both financing the Hui’s purchase and finding a suitable alternate property for Janet Zand and Michael Marcus. I also want to thank Zand and Marcus for their sensitivity and willingness to cooperate for the benefit of the community.”

Last year, Janet Zand and Michael Marcus entered into an agreement with ML&P to purchase the Kaluanui property as a personal residence. Many Hui No`eau and community members were disappointed, as they wished to keep the arts center in this cherished location. Mayor Alan Arakawa was instrumental in bringing the parties together in a series of meetings to develop a workable solution to keep Hui No`eau at the Kaluanui site.

On January 11, 2005, ML&P and Hui No`eau executed a backup agreement giving the Hui the right to purchase the Kaluanui property, in the event it became available for sale. Zand and Marcus then agreed to terminate their contract to purchase Kaluanui if they could find a suitable alternate property.

Zand, Marcus and representatives of Maui Land & Pine worked diligently over the next six months to find an alternate property on Maui. A suitable property was found and the parties reached an agreement on June 13, 2005. Zand and Marcus released Kaluanui from their purchase contract, thus paving the way for Hui No`eau to complete their purchase of the property. Thanks to an impressive fundraising campaign and an outpouring of community support, Hui No`eau is prepared to purchase Kaluanui.

“We are extremely pleased that this collaborative effort has succeeded,” said John Hoxie, Chairman of the Board at Hui No`eau. “We wish to personally thank Mayor Arakawa, David Cole, Janet Zand and Michael Marcus for their kokua.”

More than 1,700 donors committed just over $4.5 million in gifts and pledges to the “Save the Hui - Buy Kaluanui” campaign. Though the Hui’s fundraising campaign has raised sufficient funds to purchase the property, capitalization funding is still needed to provide maintenance and needed repairs and improvements to the property. Fundraising efforts will continue until the $5 million goal is reached, giving the Hui a solid financial base to assure that the elegant, but aging, Baldwin home will continue to serve as a center for arts programs and exhibitions. A challenge grant is still outstanding from an anonymous donor who pledged to donate $250,000 if every Hui member makes a contribution to the campaign.

To facilitate the sale, Maui Land & Pine has loaned the Hui over $800,000, which the Hui plans to repay with funds raised over the next several months.

Donations to the capital campaign continue to be accepted. For information contact Cathie Byrne, Campaign Coordinator at (808) 572-6560, ext. 22 / cathieb@huinoeau.com.