KAUA'I LAND OWNERSHIP Ni'ihau
History: Eliza Sinclair, the family matriarch, purchased the island of Ni'ihau from King Kamehameha IV in 1863. It is a private island, not open to the public, occupied by mostly native Hawaiians in the employ of the Robinson Estate ranch.
Kaua'i
History: Eliza Sinclair, the family matriarch, bought the island of Ni'ihau in 1863 and later purchased 21,000 acres on Kaua'i in 1865. Over the years, the family acquired additional acreage, bringing their holdings to 51,000 acres. Because Eliza Sinclair was not content with the climate and living conditions on Ni'ihau, she purchased the ahupua'a (large land division) of Makaweli on Kaua'i, which belonged to Victoria Kamamalu, a granddaughter of Kamehameha I. The family land holdings increased further with additional land purchases in Hanapepe, Kalalau, Wainiha, and small miscellaneous lots in scattered locations. The latter purchases occurred between the late 1800s and the 1960s. Robinson Family Partners Today: Most of Robinson Family Partners' land is leased to Gay & Robinson, Inc. and includes the only land on Kaua'i still under cultivation for sugar. Conservation is important to the Robinsons, as reflected in their undeveloped lands. Keith Robinson also cultivates endangered species on land leased from the family.
Grove Farm
History: George N. Wilcox bought the fledgling Grove Farm Plantation in 1870 from Judge Herman Widemann, the town sheriff and judge who was also in the sugar business. In 1881 Wilcox purchased an additional 10,500 acres of land from Princess Ruth Ke'elikalani. By building a series of aqueducts, Wilcox brought water down from the mountains, making Grove Farm one of Hawaii's most profitable sugar plantations. Without a wife or children, George Wilcox turned the Grove Farm operations over to his nephews. When he died in the mid-1930s, Grove Farm's assets were passed to his brothers' families. In 1948, Gaylord H. Wilcox bought Koloa Plantation, which increased Grove Farm's land holdings to over 22,000 acres. In 1974, a corporate decision was made to end sugar operations. Over the next 25 years, while keeping agriculture as its base, Grove Farm diversified into residential, resort, industrial, and commercial land developments. Grove Farm encountered serious financial troubles after Hurricane Iniki, when the commercial real estate market all but dried up. Grove Farm was sold to Steve Case, founder of America Online and former chairman of AOL Time Warner, in December of 2000 for $152 per share - $26 million. In July of 2001 Case also acquired a portion (18,000 acres) of the land formerly known as Amfac Sugar Kauai's Lihu'e Plantation. Grove Farm has recently completed its 18-hole Puakea Golf Course in Lihu'e, and will develop additional residential house lots in its Lihu'e project near Puako. When much needed repairs to Kukui Grove Mall and the new water development are added to the expansion of Puakea Golf Course, the final cost of Grove Farm, including millions in Grove Farm debt, will fall somewhere between $100 million and $110 million. Case, whose grandfather was Grove Farm's chief financial officer and whose father grew up on Grove Farm land, has strong roots here. With a net worth of $1.5 billion, Case, a Punahou School graduate, is reported to be Kauai's first billionaire. However, most of Case's fortune is derived from volatile Internet stock. Hawaiian real estate may prove a more secure investment. Case also purchased 41.2% of Maui Land & Pineapple Co. for $42 million, theoretically giving him an interest in 50,000 acres in Hawai'i. Grove Farm Today: Case's first action was to name as chairman his father, Honolulu attorney Daniel Case. Daniel Case is a senior partner of a law firm that maintained an office on Kaua'i until the mid-90s. Daniel Case, in turn, hired former Grove Farm president David W. Pratt as chief executive officer of Grove Farm. Maha'ulepu, Grove Farm beachfront property near Poipu Bay Golf Course and the Hyatt Regency Kaua'i Resort & Spa, may be in line for development. The Sierra Club has actively called for the area to be named a wilderness preserve, but Pratt believes a compromise allowing a resort may be possible.
Alexander & Baldwin
History: A&B was founded in 1870 with the Maui sugar-growing partnership of Samuel T. Alexander and Henry P. Baldwin. The company's ties to Kaua'i go back a long way. Alexander was born in Hanalei in 1836. In 1889, he and Baldwin helped found the Hawaiian Sugar Company on leased land at Makaweli. (The lease expired in 1940; that land is now part of the Gay & Robinson plantation). In 1909 A&B began an association with McBryde Sugar Company in 'Ele'ele, which later became a wholly owned subsidiary. A&B is the fourth largest private landowner on Kauai. A & B Today: A&B is moving ahead with the development of its 1,000-acre master-planned community in Kukui'ula, near Koloa and Poipu. The first residential subdivision, the 32-lot Koloa Estates, proved to be very successful. Plans for the next phase include Kukui'ula Bay Village, a 200-room resort hotel on 22 acres, two timeshare condominium sites of 15 and 16 acres with up to 700 units, a 4-acre resort commercial site, and an 18-hole championship golf course. A range of residential options will ultimately be offered. A&B owns the majority of the undeveloped acreage surrounding Port Allen on the south shore. Much of the island's ocean-oriented visitor activity has re-located to this site, and A&B has responded with on-site improvements. Additional infrastructure improvements are planned, as well as the development of Port Allen Marina Center. In terms of land area, A&B's largest Kaua'i venture is the 3,400- acre estate of the Kaua'i Coffee Company, the largest coffee grower in Hawai'i - in fact, in the U.S.! The estate is located between Koloa and 'Ele'ele; the processing plant and popular Visitor Center are at Numila. Kauai Coffee achieved profitable operations during 2000, the result of orchard maturity and successful marketing and sales efforts. A&B's remaining agricultural land is leased for a variety of purposes, including papayas and seed corn. Kaua'i Commercial Company (trucking, break-bulk delivery, and storage) and Matson Navigation Company are two other A&B subsidiaries serving Kaua'i.
Kamehameha Schools
History: The history of the Bishop Estate and the Kamehameha Schools began with Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who endowed the vast Kamehameha land holdings as a trust dedicated to the purpose of establishing and supporting the Kamehameha Schools. Pauahi married American businessman Charles Reed Bishop in 1850. When she died she placed over 431,378 acres of Kamehameha lands in a trust, directing the establishment of Kamehameha Schools as the sole beneficiary of her estate. Bishop Estate's mission is to operate the Kamehameha Schools to educate children of Hawaiian ancestry. The land assets and income derived from the lands are used to support the schools. Kamehameha Schools Today: Formerly known as Bishop Estates, Kauai's fifth major private landowner has 11,725 acres on the island. These lands are a part of Bernice Pauahi Bishop's original land trust left to Kamehameha Schools. A great-granddaughter of King Kamehameha I, Pauahi Bishop wanted her lands and their profits to support Kamehameha Schools, which she established to keep the Hawaiian culture alive. Today, Kamehameha Schools is the richest private school in the United States, with an annual operating budget of about 31 million dollars. Most of Kamehameha School's Kaua'i land is in conservation or agriculture, located on the island's north shore in Waipá and Lumaha'i.
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