County close to buying Wailuku building as it aims to cut rent costs
Trask building latest in county’s efforts to rent less, own more
Maui County is close to purchasing another building in Wailuku town that it hopes will help cut down on the rent it pays for office space.
The approximately $3.8 million purchase of the David K. Trask Jr. building, which is owned by the Hawaii Government Employees Association and is located just across the street from the county’s Kalana O Maui building, has to undergo one more reading by the full County Council at its regular meeting on Tuesday. Funds will come from transient accommodations tax revenues, according to a bill for the purchase of the property.
The pending acquisition of the 2145 Kaohu St. property is the latest in the county’s efforts to eliminate the millions of dollars it pays each year for rent, Finance Director Scott Teruya said Wednesday.
According to the latest available data, in fiscal year 2022, the county paid around $2.4 million in rent, which includes office space for departments and spaces under the purview of the County Council, according to Guy Hironaka, longtime real property management specialist at the county.
Fiscal 2022 rent was around $850,000 less than fiscal 2021 rent, as Hironaka said that by fiscal 2022, departments formerly located at the Maui Mall, such as the Real Property Tax Division and the Motor Vehicles and Licensing Division, had moved into the new Maui County Service Center on Alaihi Street in Kahului.
The Department of Public Works’ Development Services Administration and its inspectors also relocated from a building along Kamehameha Avenue to the new Maui County Service Center.
Hironaka said total rent the county will pay for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, may be “slightly higher” than last fiscal year, as even though more staff are now in county-owned space, this year did not include any large moves like in years past. And, some offices that rent private space may have seen their rents gone up or have had to sign new leases with higher costs.
Teruya said it is still to be decided who will fill the spaces at the Trask building, as studies are underway to determine which departments will fit the best in the county’s newly owned buildings. He said the administration is looking at how to put departments together, as some are in different places and different buildings.
Hironaka confirmed that the Department of Environmental Management administration is currently at the Trask building.
Other buildings or portions of buildings that need to be filled include the Hawaiian Telcom Building along Wells Street in Wailuku, which the county purchased and closed on Dec. 31, 2020, for $3.72 million during the pandemic.
Hironaka said renovations are still ongoing there.
The county also recently purchased the $4 million former Maui County Federal Credit Union building along Wili Pa Loop in the Wailuku Millyard. The sale closed on July 29, 2022, but construction delays at the credit union’s new building in Kehalani Village Center set the financial institution’s move back, Hironaka said.
Hironaka said the fiscal section of the Water Supply Department that is currently on the fifth floor of the Kalana O Maui Building will relocate to the old Maui County FCU spot after renovations are made. In turn, the Water Resources & Planning Division will move from a rented space at One Main Plaza to Kalana O Maui.
Maui County also recently considered the purchase of The Maui News building in Wailu
ku as it sought more office space. In March 2021, the Maui County Council approved
legislation to allow the administration to acquire the parcel for $9.8 million.
But, in May last year, Maui County and Ogden Newspapers Inc., owners of The Maui News, announced that they had ended discussions of the sale, with both sides saying at the time that as economic conditions improved, Ogden opted to retain ownership of the building.