Hawaiian Council and the County of Maui have given the grand opening a date and a headliner. On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the grounds at the corner of Waineʻe and Papalaua streets open at 1 p.m., and Common Kings play a free show at 8:15 that night. The County's announcement also makes clear what opens that day. The Nov. 10 celebration marks the opening of "the marketplace grounds and community gathering spaces." Individual shops will open as they are ready, and some may open after the celebration.
That detail explains the rest of the project. ʻUlu o Lele is a short-term marketplace built to rotate small businesses through on a two-year lease. On opening day the stage, the food and the music will be ready. Behind them is a row of small storefronts whose tenants are meant to change over the life of the lease.
The Day, Hour by Hour
The official site has posted a tentative schedule, and the stage program does not start until late afternoon.
| Time | What's happening |
|---|---|
| 1:00 p.m. | Marketplace opens |
| 1:00–5:00 p.m. | Live radio broadcast, giveaways, vendor spotlights, stories from Lahaina |
| 5:00 p.m. | Grand opening welcome |
| 5:15–8:00 p.m. | Maui Music Showcase with Maui artists and cultural demonstrations |
| Around sunset | "A Moment for Lahaina" |
| 8:00 p.m. | Community mahalo and special introductions |
| 8:15–9:15 p.m. | Common Kings in concert |
| 9:15 p.m. | Closing mahalo |
The ʻUlu o Lele website says the schedule is tentative and that more details will come. The organizers had not yet published a parking plan, a shuttle or any road closures for the evening. Hawaiian Council CEO Kūhiō Lewis told Aloha State Daily that the former Outlets site offers "ample parking for local residents." He was describing the site in general, though, not a weeknight concert with a free headliner. Check the site again the week of Nov. 10 before you decide when to drive in.
Nov. 10 is a Tuesday. The daytime hours are built around the radio broadcast and the shops, and the stage program comes after work.
What Was Built for Those Three Acres
The storefronts were built on another island. HPM Building Supply finished 17 modular storefronts in Hilo, and they were designed to reflect the character of Lahaina. Hawaiian Council arranged private shipping with American Marine Corporation, with arrival on Maui scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 21.
The units are small. Lewis told Maui Now in July that they range from 144 to 240 square feet, rent for $800 to $1,500 a month depending on size, and run on solar power. In the same report he described the full layout as 17 retail units plus eight food trucks, for 25 vendor spaces, along with a stage for nightly entertainment.
The vendor estimate runs higher than that. When applications opened in September, the announcement said the marketplace was expected to hold 25 to 50 local vendors and support an estimated 90 jobs. Cultural demonstrations led by Native Hawaiian practitioners, farmers markets and nonprofit pop-ups are also part of the plan. That may explain the gap, since a farmers market or a weekend pop-up can fit more vendors than 17 fixed storefronts.
The County lists retail shops, food vendors, cultural programming, music, and space for nonprofit and community events. No regular weekly hours or recurring event calendar had been published ahead of the opening.
Who Gets a Storefront, and Why
The selection rules favor people who already had businesses in Lahaina. Lewis told Maui Now that priority would go to businesses and cultural practitioners displaced by the fire, ahead of new startups or businesses from outside the area. He added that a community selection committee, not Hawaiian Council, would choose the tenants.
The formal call for applications in September was a little broader. Any Maui-based business could apply, and priority still went to businesses directly affected by the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires or with ties to Lahaina. Applications were due Monday, Sept. 28. Interest showed up early. An earlier interest form drew 93 responses, according to committee chair Mikey Burke in the September application announcement.
That is 93 responses for 17 storefronts and eight truck spaces. Hawaiian Council planned to announce the selected vendors at a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 29, with the ʻUlu o Lele Advisory Committee guiding the choices. The ʻUlu o Lele website is the place to watch for the lineup.
Built to Rotate on a Two-Year Clock
The project has a time limit. Hawaiian Council signed a two-year lease for the site, and the County's July announcement describes ʻUlu o Lele as an 18-to-24-month interim recovery effort. Maui Now put the full cost at $8 million over two years. It is funded through Hawaiian Council's Kākoʻo Maui Fund and a $4 million grant from the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund.
The Maui News reported that units would be rented on an interim basis so businesses could rotate through. With small spaces at modest rents, rotation lets the marketplace host more than one round of owners. The stall you visit in November could have a different business in it by next fall.
The name fits that purpose. ʻUlu o Lele is Hawaiian for "growth of Lele," honoring Lahaina's traditional name, and Hawaiʻi Public Radio notes that Lele was what Lahaina was called before the 17th century.
Why the Marketplace Comes Before the Buildings
The two-year clock is tied to how slowly Front Street's permanent buildings are coming back. The County's Oct. 21 release gives the current count. Of the 36 properties affected on the mauka side of Front Street, two have building permits, four applications are under review, and 16 properties are on a pathway to rebuilding. That leaves 14 of the 36 without a listed path forward yet.
The County presents ʻUlu o Lele as a way to cover that gap. The idea is to bring back foot traffic now, so that businesses rebuilding permanent spaces have customers when they reopen. In July, Mayor Richard Bissen told Maui Now that reopening without knowing when customers will return "is an enormous risk" for small business owners. In the County's grand opening announcement, Lewis described the marketplace as giving "local businesses a place to reopen and families and friends a place to gather again."
The Nov. 10 program follows that plan. The music, the stage and a free Common Kings show are there to bring people back to the site, and each shop gets that crowd as it opens.
Before You Head Over on the 10th
- Arrive early if browsing is the goal. The 1 to 5 p.m. block is when the marketplace and vendor spotlights are the focus, before the stage takes over.
- Expect some storefronts to still be getting ready. The County says some shops may open after the celebration.
- Look up the vendor list first. Hawaiian Council's Oct. 29 announcement will tell you which businesses are moving in.
- Check for parking and access updates. Event-day logistics had not been posted as of late October.
- Come back later. Nightly entertainment, farmers markets and rotating tenants are part of the plan, so a visit in December or March may look quite different from opening day.
We work out of Lahaina, and we'll be keeping track of which storefronts open and which businesses rotate through ʻUlu o Lele. If you'd like to know how the reopening of Lahaina's commercial core is shaping life around Front Street, Mark, Andy and Kristen at The Marchello Team are happy to talk it through over coffee.