Heading north on Piʻilani Highway near mile marker 2, the shoulder by East Waipuilani Road has been closed off for most of this year. Hawaii DOT's lane-closure list for the current week, Oct. 3 to Oct. 9, still shows it as a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week shoulder closure "until further notice," for "construction of a new intersection for Maui Research & Technology Park residential subdivision." The state's original notice said the work would run through April 30, 2026. That date has passed and the closure is still on the list.
Uphill from the closure, the old tech park now goes by Līpoa. Two things there matter to anyone who lives in Kihei: a new road onto the highway and the Līpoa Loop trail, which has been closed since early 2025. The developer has published a target date for each. Both depend on the same thing, though: getting the first homes built.
One new road, two ways of describing when it opens
The road is an extension of Hoʻokena Street, the street just outside Park Plaza. Pacific Rim Land says it will add nearly a mile of new road with wide sidewalks along the whole length. It will meet Piʻilani Highway as a right-in, right-out intersection only. You'll be able to turn right into Līpoa from the highway and turn right out of it, heading toward Kahului. You won't be able to turn left in either direction there.
In an April 13 update, the developer said night work was running through April, with one Kahului-bound lane closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. The same update set a target of opening Hoʻokena Street "as an exit-only connection" by the end of 2026. It also said "the full opening of the Hoʻokena Street connection will depend on the completion of the adjacent residential neighborhood and final approvals from both the State and County."
In August, the wording changed. A Pacific Rim Land announcement published by Maui Now on Aug. 5, 2026 described the extension as a second access point that "will be opened upon completion of home construction." It didn't repeat the year-end exit-only target. No later update with a new opening date turned up. Until one does, treat the year-end exit-only opening as an April goal that hasn't been confirmed since.
The main entrance won't change for now. Līpoa Parkway at Piʻilani Highway stays the primary way in, and the developer says improvements to that intersection are planned for 2027. The parkway itself was widened earlier as the first phase of a collector road. Civil Beat mentioned that in a January 2025 story on South Maui traffic and evacuation concerns.
The Loop trail is waiting on the same homes
The Līpoa Loop Trail closed for a reason directly tied to the road. Līpoa says Goodfellow Bros. is building the infrastructure for "LĪPOA's first residential neighborhoods," and that the trail "will be closed for the duration of the construction work with an estimated partial reopening Winter 2026." While it's closed, the developer has pointed walkers and runners to the existing sidewalks.
Look at the wording on both. The road opens "upon completion of home construction." The trail stays closed "for the duration of the construction work" on the first neighborhoods. The trail is partly in a construction zone and the road is meant to serve the houses, so both wait on the homes. Neither one has a fixed calendar date.
"Līpoa is designed for everyday peace of mind, and that begins with the infrastructure people may not always see, but will rely on every day." Ryan Churchill, President of Pacific Rim Land, in the August announcement
That "infrastructure-first" approach is why grading, drainage and roadwork have come before the houses. It's also why the parts the public will use come late. They were planned to open alongside homes that are still on the way.
Where the homes actually stand
Līpoa's own pages don't all say the same thing about timing, so it helps to rely on the most specific recent statement.
The April update said the first homes were "still on track for completion by the end of this year," and the Līpoa homepage still repeats that line. The August announcement put it differently: Pacific Rim Land was "preparing for groundbreakings on 122 future homes in the Kūlani at Līpoa subdivision and the 175-unit affordable Līpoa Apartments later this year." Līpoa's homes page reads "New Homes Coming 2027!" Some building has started. At an Aug. 13 tenant gathering, Ryan Churchill said four new home models were underway and expected to be finished by the end of the year. Four model homes are a long way from a finished neighborhood of 122, though. That's why the 2027 date fits the August groundbreaking language better than a 2026 finish for the neighborhood does.
The apartments are listed as rentals for households earning 80 to 120 percent of area median income, with up to 175 units. No rent schedule has been posted. The Kūlani homes are listed as new construction for sale, with no prices published yet.
The sequence so far, and what comes next
Here are the dated events in order, from earlier this year to 2027:
- Jan. 8, 2026. HDOT posts the Piʻilani Highway shoulder closure for the new intersection, originally scheduled through April 30.
- April 2026. Overnight lane closures for the Hoʻokena Street connection. The developer sets an exit-only opening as its year-end target.
- Aug. 5, 2026. The developer announces groundbreakings on Kūlani and Līpoa Apartments "later this year" and says Hoʻokena Street will open once the homes are finished.
- Week of Oct. 3. HDOT's current list shows the shoulder closure is still listed "until further notice."
- Winter 2026. Estimated partial reopening of the Līpoa Loop Trail.
- 2027. Planned improvements to the Līpoa Parkway and Piʻilani Highway intersection. Līpoa's homes page also says new homes are coming that year.
All of these are forecasts except the HDOT listing. Any of them could move as construction moves.
None of this is new as an idea. The Land Use Commission approved reclassifying the park's land in October 2013, with conditions. In 2016, County ordinances created the Maui Research & Technology Park district, now governed by Chapter 19.38 of the Maui County Code, with an updated master plan that includes residential and mixed-use areas. What's new in 2026 is that the roads and pipes for those approvals are now being built.
What's open up the hill right now
The construction hasn't closed the places Kihei residents already go to in Līpoa.
Maui Brewing Co. is at 605 Lipoa Parkway, with a restaurant, lanai, beer garden and tasting room. It describes itself as family-friendly and open to all ages. It lists live music every day and trivia on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, with doors opening at 6 p.m. on trivia nights. The current calendar has Tyler Jacobs on Sunday, Oct. 4, and M.i.G on Monday, Oct. 5.
Across the parkway, Cohana runs a coworking space in the Maui Research & Technology Center at 590 Līpoa Parkway. It offers flexible desks, 1-gigabit internet, a lounge and conference rooms you can rent. Maui Nui Golf Club is a few minutes away and has a Toptracer driving range, a restaurant and bar, and kamaʻāina rates.
The Līpoa Pau Hana gatherings you may see on the developer's site are for park tenants and their employees, not the general public. The most recent one listed was hosted by Galapagos Federal Systems at Maui Brewing Co. on Aug. 13. It drew nearly 60 people from more than 17 Līpoa programs and offices.
The parts that come after the houses
Some of the public spaces being built now won't look like much until later. Pacific Rim Land says it's building more than nine stormwater basins with over 17 million gallons of total capacity. They're designed to double as open green space for gatherings. It's also laying more than 2 miles of R-1 recycled water line to the Kīhei Wastewater Treatment Plant, and that work will finish "concurrently with residential home construction."
The planned town center, called the Hub, is described as a future gathering place with retail, dining, wellness and everyday services. No opening date has been announced. An 18-court Aloha Pickleball facility was planned for the corner of N. Ninau and N. Holopono streets in a November 2025 update, but nothing since has confirmed that it opened.
For the rest of this year, the most reliable thing to watch is the groundbreaking on the 122 Kūlani homes, not the four model homes. The Loop trail reopening and the Hoʻokena Street turnoff both depend on that neighborhood getting built. Until it is, the trail is closed, the parkway is still the main way in, and the shoulder near East Waipuilani Road stays closed.
If you're trying to figure out what Līpoa's construction means for your own street, your commute or a home you own nearby, Steve Landin keeps up with these updates and is glad to talk through the details with you. Reach out anytime.
