An Oʻahu contractor that bought the Puʻunēnē Mill last year is edging into a slow-motion overhaul of the long-idle sugar complex, trying to open it up for local businesses while hanging on to key pieces of the site’s past. The mill’s outsized boilers, crushers and crystallizers, relics of Hawaiʻi’s last commercial sugar operation, have sat silent since Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar wrapped its final harvest in December 2016. Nan Inc. officials say the turnaround will not be quick or cheap, with cleanup and demolition expected to cost millions before any new tenants can roll up their doors.
As reported by Hawaii News Now, Nan Inc., owned by Nan Chul Shin, bought roughly 300 acres of the Puʻunēnē complex in spring 2024 and has been weighing options that range from light industrial uses to potential housing. Company vice president Wyeth Matsubara said the team is looking to “maximize the best uses of each property zoning” while steering clear of any return to heavy sugar-making operations.
County property records and reporting show that Puʻunēnē Industrial Park LLC acquired just over 240 acres for about $5.25 million and paid roughly $501,358 for a neighboring 23-acre parcel that included the A&B Sugar Museum, according to Maui Now. The deals covered around 30 structures, from a 1903 power plant to a 2007 sugar warehouse, and Nan Inc. says it plans to salvage historically significant features while taking down unsafe buildings and stripping out obsolete equipment. “From an owner's standpoint, you want to try to salvage as much you can,” Matsubara said, warning that demolition and asbestos remediation alone could run into the tens of millions of dollars.
Redevelopment Will Focus On Light Industrial Space
For the next chapter, Nan Inc. says it is zeroing in on smaller, user-friendly light industrial bays that can be subleased to local businesses, trading sugar-scale machinery for flexible warehousing and maker-style spaces. The company points to a portfolio of large commercial and infrastructure projects it has handled across the islands as the kind of experience it plans to bring to Puʻunēnē, according to Nan Inc..
Neighbors Eye Housing And Jobs
The mill site sits next to a proposed large-scale housing project. A state EIS preparation notice from the State of Hawaii outlines plans for roughly 1,600 multifamily units on about 166 acres makai of Hansen Road, which would put a master-planned community right across from the old mill. Whether Puʻunēnē remains a blue-collar industrial hub or ends up woven into a denser neighborhood will hinge on zoning decisions and infrastructure investments tied to that project.
Post Office Still Closed Despite Renovation Work
The U.S. Postal Service temporarily shut down the Puʻunēnē Post Office at 10 Hansen Road on Sept. 13, 2024 “due to safety concerns for our customers and employees resulting from deterioration of the building, which is a leased facility,” and told affected PO box customers to pick up their mail at the Kahului Post Office at 138 S Puunene Avenue, the agency said in a statement. USPS added that it is “currently reviewing the options for the facility,” while Nan Inc. says it has completed renovations to Postal Service standards and signed a lease that would allow retail service to return in the future, according to reporting.
First up is paperwork. Nan Inc. has said cleanup and demolition will move forward only as permits are granted, while community members and county planners sort out how to balance historic preservation, space for small businesses and possible future housing. For now, Puʻunēnē remains a rusting landmark of the island’s plantation era, but new ownership has put a multi-decade transformation back in play.
