Leilani Estates, Big Island of Hawaii

[bgl]

Some questions were raised in the "Grouping ideas" thread in "Discussing Palm Trees" earlier today, so we took a ride thru our neighborhood a little while ago in order to get some photos.

First, some general information. The Big Island of Hawaii consists of nine districts (clockwise, beginning in the south): Ka'u, South Kona, North Kona, South Kohala, North Kohala, Hamakua, North Hilo, South Hilo and Puna.

Puna is about the size of Oahu and stretches from ocean on the SE side of the island up to the village of Volcano at 4,000 ft elevation. About 30,000 people live in Puna, and it's the fastest growing district on the island. Leilani Estates is one of several subdivisions in Puna. It has 2,042 properties, most of them exactly one acre. There are about 500 homes here, so most of the properties are still "vacant land", even though many people have more than one acre in order to have more privacy, so there will never be 2,000 homes. The "typical Leilani acre" (probably about  90% of all properties) is 100 ft wide and 436 ft deep. Right now the average price for an acre is around $40,000.

Leilani Estates stretches from Highway 130, at around 950 ft elevation, down to the Pahoa-Pohoiki road, about 3.5 miles away, and at that point you're just above 600 ft elevation. Lots of taller trees at the upper elevation, and for the most part much smaller trees at the lower portion. There's also a difference in rainfall. How much, I have no idea! We live at 880 ft, about a mile away from Hwy 130, so we're in the "upper" part of the subdivision.

I probably also need to address the lava zones: there are nine lava zones on the island: zone 1 is the highest risk, and zone 9 is the lowest risk. Since Kilauea's East Rift Zone runs right under Leilani Estates we are in Zone 1. Nobody really knows when the last lava flow came thru here, but it was probably about 300-400 years ago. Between Leilani Estates and Hilo you'll find Zone 2 and Zone 3 (and almost all of Hilo is in Zone 3). This is a complicated issue and anyone contemplating buying property, or moving here, really needs to educate themselves so that they're comfortable with their decision.

I'll begin with the photos in the next post.

[bgl]

Most of the vegetation here consists of four different species; 2 native and 2 exotic (and invasive).

The native: Ohi'a (Metrosideros polymorpha), almost all the taller trees in the subdivision, and Uluhe fern (Dicranopteris linearis - and no, I didn't know the botanical name - had to Google it!).

The invasive: Strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum) and Tibouchina urvilleana (not 100% sure about the species name).

The Uluhe fern typically grows along the streets here where it can get full sun (which it needs). It's easy to clear out, but can be a MAJOR challenge to walk thru.

Tibouchina is all over the place, but again, primarily in sunnier locations. It's relatively easy to get rid off, especially if you're using equipment (a backhoe for instance).

The Strawberry guava can usually be found in the darker portions of the forest, underneath taller Ohi'a trees. It has very hard wood, and is tough to get rid of.

This is the view from across our main entrance on Malama Street. The owner, who lives in Alaska, cleared out part of the property about 5 years ago, and then nothing happened. This is NOT unusual. Plenty of Uluhe fern is visible, and a few Ohi'a trees.

[bgl]

Looking to our left, more of the Uluhe fern and a few taller Ohi'a trees. This view is VERY typical of many streets here in Leilani Estates.

[DoomsDave]

BO!

I envy!

Seriously!

Swoon-crunch!

How about a visit, with cam-in-hand, and tongue in mouth . ..

dave lalalalala

[bgl]

Heading down Malama Street to Pomaikai Street (2 streets away) this house is right there.

[bgl]

Dave - any time - just let me know!! And after your 5 hour trip in an easterly direction it seems you need to make a 5 hour trip in the other direction - in the name of balance...

Continuing on Pomaikai Street, we cross Leilani Avenue, and this house is on the other side of Leilani. Again, this is a fairly typical view - a nice house, but with a vacant acre next to it (closer to the camera), which appears to be somewhat "wild".

[bgl]

This is the corner of Moku Street (one street "down" from Pomaikai) and Leilani Avenue. We know the owners of this house, and they're "sort of" into palms. They have planted plenty of Pritchardias AND Clinostigmas. The house came from Bali, where they put it all together to make sure everything was a fit, then they took it apart and shipped it to Hawaii! That was about 3 years ago.

[DoomsDave]

BO!

Balance . . .

Into the Holy Holy Holy seriously HOly land I go . . .

dave

[bgl]

And this is looking in the opposite direction, up Moku Street, with Malama Street all the way in the distance (at a 90 degree angle). Again, this is a very typical street view - plenty of vegetation and no traffic.

[bgl]

And this is Malama Street and we're getting ready to make a left. In front of us a couple of vacant properties - again very typical of what you'll see here. And ALL the trees are Ohi'a trees.

[bgl]

Driving just a short distance on Malama Street, we have this house on our left. It was built about 5 years ago. From the upper portion of the house they probably (just barely) have an ocean view.

[bgl]

And from the exact same point, looking straight down Malama Street, we can see the Pacific Ocean. This portion of what we refer to as "lower Malama Street" has a number of properties with ocean view. And those are more expensive!

[bgl]

This house, a couple of cross streets down on Malama Street actually belongs to "our" realtor, Heather Hedenschau. She has lived here in Leilani Estates for about 20 years, and a number of Palm Society members have bought their properties thru her.

[bgl]

And right around the corner, on Ho'okupu Street is this entrance, to a spectacular garden. During the 2004 Biennial, 3 garden were visited on May 13. Our garden, Pauleen Sullivan's in Kapoho, and this one which at that time belonged to the Swann's. It has since been sold. This is also very typical of many properties here: you cannot see the house from the street.

[bgl]

And heading north on Ho'okupu Street, towards Leilani Avenue, we get into an area that only had smaller Ohi'a trees when we moved here 12 years ago. In March 1998 (when we had a severe drought, thanks to El Nino) a brush fire spread thru this area and killed off most of the 15-20 ft tall trees. For this reason, many people who've bought land here have cleared the land completely since dead Ohi'a trees aren't all that attractive.... This is obviously a brand new house.

[bgl]

And the property right next to the one above. These people are just beginning to build and again, this is a typical look in this area of what we call "lower Leilani".

[bgl]

We're heading down one more street, to the last cross street in Leilani Estates: Kaupili Street, and head back to Malama. This property is right on Malama Street, with an ocean view, and this view, with plenty of palms and all sorts of other plants is common.

[bgl]

We're making a right onto Malama Street, with the Pacific Ocean to our left, about 4 miles away. This house is just a few properties away from the one above. Beautiful ocean views here. The nextdoor neighbor (to our right) was a Palm Society member, but he moved back to the mainland a few years ago.

[bgl]

Heading east on Malama Street we continue to Luana Street, a couple of streets "up", and make a right. Luana Street is really the first street (coming from a lower elevation) that has plenty of tall, mature Ohi'a trees. This property was sold a few years ago, and I believe at that time it was the most expensive property in Leilani Estates (that had been sold). Around $600,000 if I remember correctly.

[bgl]

Another quarter mile north on Luana Street, and this is a fairly typical view. The house partly hidden by tall Ohi'a trees. Most people (but unfortunately not everybody) make an attempt to keep many of the Ohi'a trees intact when they bring in a bulldozer.

[bgl]

Heading north to the end of Luana Street, we make a left turn onto Kahukai Street, which runs parallel to Leilani Avenue and Malama Street. This is an interesting new house being built.

[bgl]

Almost done now...we're heading back home, and this is on Alapai Street, just one street away from us. This house was finished some time last year and has been vacant since. It's probably a spec home. Typically people who build spec homes here just go in with a bulldozer and clear most (or all) of the acre, then build a relatively simple house in the middle of the acre. A house like this, on a one acre property, would typically sell for around $300,000.

[bgl]

And a few properties away, still on Alapai Street, this property was sold recently to some people from the U.S. mainland who were here for a few weeks, brought in a D-9 bulldozer and opened up this road to the back of the property, where they will probably end up building a house.

[bgl]

And just 300 ft away, at the very same time, a guy from Oregon bought 2 acres, and also opened up a rough road to the back of his property. He bought 10 Clinostigmas from me, managed to plant them about half an hour before he had to leave for the airport! That was about 6 weeks ago and I don't think he's coming back for several months. The palms are doing fine, even though they could probably use some fertilizer...

This is the last photo - at least for now.

I remember one question about soil: there is VERY little top soil in this area, so we have to buy soil (or a cinder soil mix) by the truckload. Usually around $400-$600 for 20-26 cubic yards. It was much cheaper when we moved here, because at that time there was a cinderpit right next to Leilani Estates, but that has since been closed (even though it MAY open again). At that time I was fortunate to pay around $150 for 26 cubic yards.

Feel free to ask any questions!

[bgl]

OK, one more photo - and this one is sort of typical for life here in Leilani Estates. As we were heading up Kahukai Street, I made a left onto Alapai, on my way home, and as soon as I made that left, a lady was close to the street there. I was going pretty slow, had my windows rolled down, and one thing led to another so we got into an interesting conversation about plants, and my wife asked her about a particular plant that we had seen on some of her trees. So, we took a 10 minute break, and she showed us some of her plants (which, from a palm point of view, included a very impressive Joey, some Clinostigmas, Pinangas, a Kerriodoxa and many others, more common ones). Anyway, this is the plant, and I think she called it a Raphidophorum, but not certain on that.

[Kim]

Bo, I'm so glad you are creating this thread.  My bookmarked old favorite, "The Joys of Island Living" disappeared with the Palapa.  I'm really enjoying the views of your Leilani neighborhood, thanks! And there will be more to come, yes?

[bgl]

Kim,

Thanks a lot! Always nice with feedback!  And I will create a new (separate) Big Island thread. Aloha!

Bo-Göran

[MattyB]

As you drive around Leilani Estates you can see Bo's disease spreading.  Most obvious symptom is the large juvenile leaves of Clinostigma samoense seen as you drive along the road.

[doubravsky]

Great thread... thanks for all the pics. Keep them coming! Makes me wish I was there.

[DoomsDave]

Bo, do keep posting.

I LOVE neighborhood pictures.

This shows more about the place than anything I've seen so far.

dave

[Neofolis]

Bo, you mentioned that an acre lot is often around $40K and that a lot with a simple, spec' built home is around $300K.  What would you estimate the cost of building a similar home to be?

Great pictures, by the way, I'm looking forward to future posts.

[aussiearoids]

Bo, the clingon plant climbing up the tree is a species of Raphidophora , maybe R.korthalsii .

Look at these pics on the IAS site ..

Like many of these it will mature into a large pinnate leaf once established and grown into more light .

http://www.aroid.org/genera/rhaphidophora/...lsii/index.html

[bgl]

Michael,

Thanks for the info on the plant - much appreciated!

And Corey,

First of all, it's been more than 11 years since we had our house built so I'm a little bit "rusty" when it comes to cost of building a new home. BUT, first of all, it obviously depends on the size of the house, and the quality of the construction. Many people here think "simple wall" is just fine, and that's obviously cheaper. But there are a number of problems with that, and some of those problems are not going to be apparent until you've moved in and it's too late. For instance, if it's 60F on a cool winter morning, it's going to be 60F in the house. A bit chilly for some... More importantly, mold is going to be a BIG problem very quickly. With double wall construction you can add insulation, cut down dramatically on the mold problem (even though you can never entirely eliminate it here) and wake up to 70F or so in the house even on a chilly winter morning. Just one example.

Anyway, it's probably safe to estimate around $100-$125 per square foot when you build a house. So, if you're building a 2,000 sq ft home (I believe that'd be around 180 sq metres), you're looking at $200K-$250K. Adding the price of the lot and bulldozer expense etc. you'll get close to $300K (at the upper range of the per sq ft estimate).

Bo-Göran

[amazondk]

Bo,

Thanks for the pictures.  It is great to see your neighborhood.  If you have any other photos of the house in post 11 I would love to see them.  It looks like sort of the idea I have for the house on our lot in Paricatuba.  Also,  are there any really big trees in the area?  Trees with maybe 3 foot plus diameter trunks and 100 foot plus in height.  I am just curious.

dk

[bgl]

Don,

Ask, and you shall receive!  Here are two more photos of the house in post 11.

And the largest trees would be some of the older Ohi'a trees. The tallest ones are probably just over 100 ft tall and trunk diameter close to the ground approx 3 ft.

Bo-Göran

[bgl]

Same house, slightly different view

[bgl]

And Kupono Street is right around the corner. This house is newly built, and the Clinostigmas are already in place (one on the left, two in the distance on the right).

[bgl]

Just a few properties away, and on the other side of the street is this house, also recently built. These people just cleared out their 2 acres completely.

[bgl]

On Makamae Street, two streets "down" from Kupono, a 3 acre property belonging to another Forum member. A bunch of Clinostigma samoense, and some other misc. palms are already in the ground. I'm sure the beginning of a great palm garden!

[bgl]

And right around the corner is Kahukai Street. Plenty of tall Albizzia trees in this area. These tend to be very brittle, and large branches sometimes fall off, causing major problems for the neighbors. Typically, these trees grow on vacant properties that belong to people who don't live here.