MAKENA, Maui — A $220 million luxury housing project led by Maui developer Everett Dowling is now under way in South Maui.

Maluaka — formerly known to the public as Keaka — is a 69-unit development just south of the Maui Prince Hotel and mauka of the South Makena Golf Course's oceanfront 16th hole, The Maui News reported today.

Grading work has been going on for several months. Dowling said actual construction should begin in early August on the project's 14 "green" buildings, which he pledged will be state of the art in environmental and energy conservation. The development should be finished by early 2010, he said.

Dowling, president of Dowling Co. in Wailuku, told The Maui News that Maluaka will be part of Makena Resort, which includes two 18-hole golf courses, the 310-room Maui Prince Hotel and 1,300 acres of undeveloped land. Last June, Dowling and his partners, Morgan Stanley Real Estate, purchased the 1,800-acre Makena Resort from the Japanese company Seibu Group for $575 million.

However, Maluaka is considered the first project in the Makena Resort master plan, the rest of which is still in the works, Dowling said.

The more than 10-year-old plan last called for 1,100 luxury homes, condos, apartments and a hotel on 600 acres.

"We are continuing the overall planning efforts," Dowling said. "We just closed on it a year ago. There's a lot to it, and we want to make sure it's done correctly."

As for Maluaka, Dowling purchased its 10.8 acres as part of a $35 million land deal he made prior to buying Makena Resort.

Maluaka comes at a good time for labor on Maui, said Bruce Uu, apprenticeship coordinator for International Carpenters Union Local 745 and a member of the Maui Planning Commission.

"We got about 160 guys laid off right now due to a lack of work, and nothing much coming in," Uu said. "A lot of the projects coming out are scaling down due to the recession. The investors are pulling back, and it's affecting us."

Meanwhile, the Dowling Co. also closed its 18-hole Makena South Golf Course on May 27. The Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed course will be shuttered for up to 1 years for deferred maintenance and renovations. Dowling said the company is installing grass that uses less water and fertilizer.

Maluaka is makai of Makena-Keoneoio Road. The project has drawn criticism, in part, because of its proximity to the ocean.

Maluaka will be the first condo project in Hawaii to be registered by the U.S. Green Building Council as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, Dowling said.

"It's like the stamp of Good Housekeeping when it comes to green building," Dowling said.

Some of the environmentally friendly features include 50 percent less irrigation water than similar-sized projects, filtered storm water and enough photovoltaic or solar-power systems to generate electricity for the bungalows and the elevators and common areas in the other buildings, Dowling said.

Dowling has said that the green aspect to his developments is part of his "finding a balance" philosophy.

But not everyone agrees.

"It's very disappointing to many people that you can call something green building after blasting the land so it's unrecognizable," said Lucienne de Naie of Maui Tomorrow and the Sierra Club. "It is literally changing the contour of the land so it has no connection to the place that generations of people have known."

She also said the project has disturbed unrecorded burials in what was once a fishing village.

Dowling said Maluaka will preserve archaeological sites and highlight them.

About 50 percent of the bungalows, penthouses and condominiums remain available, Dowling said. Prices range from $4 million to $15 million for the three-bedroom, 4,300-square-foot bungalows. All of them have ocean views.

The plans call for 14 structures, including the Maluaka Club and Spa. Services include personal shoppers, fitness trainers, dog walkers and car detailing, to name a few.

Maui County Planning Director Jeff Hunt said that in May his department granted Dowling Co. 40 building permits worth about $100 million in construction. And back in 2006, the Maui Planning Commission granted Dowling a special management area permit to develop Maluaka along the coastline. The project did not require rezoning or a community plan amendment.

However, it didn't come without a fight. Maui Tomorrow unsuccessfully attempted to intervene. And at least one commissioner questioned why Maui needs another gated community.

As for the greater Makena Resort, it hasn't made headlines since Seibu's request for rezoning stalled before the County Council nearly four years ago.

Seibu had an application to build pieces of its master plan over 20 years. The process consumed five weeks of hearings before the Planning and Land Use committees, which tacked on 41 conditions, and then became void because it never received a full council vote before the council term expired.

Still, Makena Resort also spawned the activist group Save Makena, which fights to preserve the land and its archaeological sites and remains active.

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