Kuilima Town Homes on Oahu’s North Shore

Twenty-five years ago, I rented a weekend getaway 2-bedroom town home on the north shore of Oahu at Kuilima Estates along with 3 other friends. The town homes are adjacent to the Turtle Bay Resort hotel and line the two championship golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer and George Fazio. Though we were not golfers, we did sometimes hit chip shots onto the green in the late afternoon in front of our rental. 

In actuality, this was our weekend beach house. We all lived on the south shore and we would use the place as a crash pad for our weekend surf sessions. The ambiance was great with the wide open spaces and views provided by the golf course. I have fond memories of the barbecues we had after long days of surfing. Then, Sunday afternoon it was back to town. I always thought it would be a great place to own, however, the Kuilima town homes were leasehold – meaning you own the structure and rent the land underneath it from a 3rd party land owner – and that kept me from buying.

Now that has all changed as the land has been offered for purchase to the town home owners. Some owners have purchased and some have elected to continue leasing their portion of the land. As a result, you will see fee simple – meaning land comes with the purchase – and leasehold town homes currently for sale. I think it’s the best kept secret on the north shore. Compared to buying a single family residence on Oahu’s north shore, the Kuilima town homes are very affordable.

For traffic, the location is superb. Driving from the east to the west end of the north shore to hit your favorite surf spot on a weekend day is a breeze compared to dealing with the traffic jams that you run into when attempting to head east from the west end – Haleiwa towards Waimea Bay. Then, in the afternoon the traffic backs up in the opposite direction, and while everyone is trying to get back to town, the drive from Waimea Bay back to Kuilima is smooth sailing.

Kuilima Estates

Originally built in the mid 70’s, the Kuilima town homes are divided into two associations; Kuilima Estates West has 200 units and Kuilima Estates East has 168. There are currently 5 active fee simple Kuilima town home listings, priced from $319K to $449K, on the market and 4 leasehold units priced from $260K to $414K with fee – land purchase – available. Depending on the interior square footage of each town home, the purchase price of the land portion is currently ranging from $37K-$57K. You can see all the active listings on my Oahu North Shore Town Homes property gallery.