Hawaii County Selling 700+ Acres In A Buyer’s Market

The County of Hawai’i is proceeding with the sale of 16 parcels of land located in Pa’auilo in the Hamakua District of the Island of Hawai’i, during one of the worst seller’s market in the island’s history.

Hawaii County Pa’auilo land parcel to be auctioned.

The County claims it’s selling this land to make up for a budget deficit. Which begs the question, what are they going to sell next year to make up for next year’s shortfall in the budget?

It’s not as if the real estate market or general economy is going to come screaming back by the end of this year to the highs of 2005 & 2006! Why isn’t the County planning to lease this land as farmland to local business owners who are crying for this sort of acreage at an “affordable” price? We already have examples of how viable a business proposition these small farms can be. As a County taxpayer, this makes more long-term fiscal sense to me than simply selling off an asset, that when it’s gone, is gone.

Rumor has it multi-national conglomerate Monsanto will be bidding on the parcels. Wonder if they’ll test the soil for contaminates from the now-defunct Hamakua sugar cane industry before planting genetically modified seeds (soybeans?) that most likely they will want to sell back to us as “organic” soy milk and/or bio-diesel fuel?? It could bring a whole new meaning to the terms, “island” or “locally grown.”

There will be 4 sealed bid dates. The County has set up a website for more information about bidding on these parcels. Appraisals, Maps, Surveys and Preliminary Title Reports are all available online. The County is also advertising a property tour for this coming Wednesday, March 17th. Read the Pa‘auilo Land Tour (PDF) for more information.