Planned Housing and a Working Coffee Farm Mix in Maui

A coffee farm/residential development hybrid may actually be working on the Hawaii island of Maui.

Ka`anapali Coffee Farms

In 2006, Maui’s Kaanapali Land Management Corp. launched the Ka`anapali Coffee Farms project on more than 300 acres near the town of Lahaina. The concept was to create a master planned residential community composed of seven-acre estates on the lush grounds of a working coffee farm, with homeowners receiving kickbacks on association fees for higher coffee production.

Here’s a description of the arrangement from the farm association:

Ka‘anapali Coffee Farms is a private agricultural community that weaves contemporary island living into the rich farming culture of West Maui. On approximately 300 acres upslope from Ka‘anapali Resort, 4-to 7-acre Farm Lots are available. In keeping with the district’s agricultural intent, each lot is a part of a working coffee farm. A veteran team of local farmers grows, harvests and markets the coffee crop on your estate, leaving you and your family the time to enjoy life in this remarkable corner of Paradise.

With record-high production of 200,000 pounds of green coffee beans harvested this year, homeowners got $5,000 back on their association fees this season, according to a recent Lahaina News report.

Ka`anapali Coffee Farms coffee is sold under the MauiGrown Coffee brand. MauiGrown offers several different varieties of arabica, selling to customers throughout Hawaii and North America.

Here’s more from the Lahaina News report, where homeowners reported being surprised by being rewarded for the high yield on their land:

For Ka`anapali Coffee Farms’ lot owners, this unique farm-residential concept is a win-win situation.

“We were attracted to this coffee farm community because it gave us the space we desired for our lifestyle among the beauty of the coffee orchards and the green hillsides,” said Ka`anapali Coffee Farms homeowner Lyn Muegge. “The farming operation gave us the unique opportunity to own a beautiful place to live and to help keep the land under cultivation with a viable Maui crop. Receiving a refund of half our association fees was an added bonus and totally unexpected!”

Read the full story: Lahaina News