HALE KAUAI
Hale Kauai – A leader in the Real Estate Industry
Hale Kauai has evolved since its inception as a hardware store to a real estate firm. Its healthy financial position puts many growth opportunities at its choosing. On February 10, 1945, Wayne Ellis, Sam Wilcox and William Moragne each paid in $11,000 to purchase a property in Lihue located on Rice Street from the Lydgate Estate. This property was set up as an appliance, retail, electrical contractor, and record store. The partners quickly realized that the business at hand would not generate enough revenue to be profitable so they arranged to be the Lewers and Cooke representative on Kauai. The new company began selling a broad range of building materials, and in 1950 Hale Kauai was incorporated and became Hale Kauai Limited.
Hale Kauai Ltd. purchased land at Nawiliwili harbor to set up a lumber yard and mill, and soon after offered ready mix concrete. By 1960, Hale Kauai Ltd.’s operations included three hardware stores, a lumber yard, and a ready-mix concrete operation, with annual sales totaling slightly over $1,000,000. Hale Kauai grew to be named one of Hawaii’s top 250 companies in the mid-1980s.
In 2003, with the pending establishment of big-box retailers to the Island of Kauai, Hale Kauai Ltd. fundamentally shifted its operational focus away from a building supply company. The Ready Mix Concrete and Building Materials Supply Company were sold, the Nawiliwili hardware store was closed and in 2005 Hale Kauai closed the Koloa Hardware store, which ended the building supply business. With the sales and closings, Hale Kauai transformed into a real estate investment and development firm.
Hale Kauai is now well-positioned to take advantage of current real estate market conditions. Hale Kauai is still owned and operated by the Ellis, Wilcox, and Moragne families. It has evolved since it’s inception in 1945 and moves forward with assets and resources the original partners started. The real estate portfolio of Hale Kauai currently consists of a total of 6 Commercial Real Estate “CRE” holdings and two Tenant In Common “TIC” properties as it prepares to enter a new growth phase utilizing its resources and strategic plan to grow its CRE holdings.