KAPOLEI — Come to the intersection of Kapolei Parkway and Kalaeloa Boulevard and you might forget there's a global economic crisis.

On one corner, the largest Costco Warehouse on O'ahu is tentatively set to open Feb. 27.

On another corner, the Kapolei Commons shopping complex is scheduled to open a week or two later. It will include the first of Hawai'i's two Target stores, as well as Sports Authority, Petco and Office Max.

One block away, construction began in earnest earlier this year on the state Judiciary Complex.

But even in booming Kapolei, there are signs of a slowdown.

Two other big-box stores pulled out of Kapolei Commons after suffering financial problems nationally. MKC Management, the partnership between the MacNaughton Group and the Kobayashi Group, which is developing Kapolei Commons, is pushing back construction of the project's second phase pending an assessment of the retail market in the coming months.

And while City Mill's new theme store "Simply Organized" opened last week amid much fanfare and a Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory restaurant is opening soon, most of the Crossroads at Kapolei mall remains vacant and uncommitted.

Mike Hamasu, consulting and research director for Colliers Monroe Friedlander, said financing for the new Costco and Kapolei Commons projects were likely obtained long before the economic climate changed.

"The boom in retail construction always follows where the residential growth has occurred," Hamasu said, noting the housing boom in West O'ahu. "Most of these projects were out of ground and had obtained financing well in advance of all of the problems that are occurring now so their completion is pretty much set. Now you have subsequent projects, and subsequent phases of these projects, that may face some difficulties and delays as a result of the changes in the market conditions."

COSTCO HIRING NOW

Hawai'i's newest Costco store is nearly complete, according to Max Ramos, manager of the Hawai'i Kai store, who will now head Costco operations on the west side.

"The building is completely done," as is an accompanying, 16-pump gasoline station on the Kalaeloa Boulevard side of the property, Ramos said.

The holdup is construction of road improvements just outside the store on Kapolei Parkway and Kalaeloa Boulevard, he said.

The gas station may open a little sooner than the rest of the warehouse, Ramos said.

The site is just shy of 160,000 square feet of retail space, slightly bigger than the typical 150,000-square-foot Costco on O'ahu. The location will include a tire center, a kitchen and deli, a pharmacy, plus optical and hearing centers.

It will be the only O'ahu Costco offering indoor seating for its snack shop, Ramos said.

The store is still in the process of filling 200 jobs, he said.

RETAIL WORLD IN FLUX

The facade of the first phase of Kapolei Commons, the northern end of the property closest to H-1 Freeway that MKC president Jeff Dinsmore called the "power center portion," is nearly complete and will open the first week of March as scheduled.

Target, at more than 159,000 square feet, is the largest store in the complex. Sports Authority will have about 45,000 square feet, while the Office Max and Petco will have about 18,000 and 15,000 square feet, respectively.

In recent months, financially troubled Circuit City pulled out of a lease on a 30,000-square-foot space on the northeast corner of the property. A site plan on the Kapolei Commons Web site lists Best Buy on the site.

Jeff Dinsmore, MKC president, said there have been discussions with Best Buy about taking over the site, but nothing more definitive. "There are other players in that mix as well," he said.

Regal Theaters is still committed to anchoring a second phase of the complex on the south side of the 50-acre parcel. When that's built, however, and what businesses will be joining the theater center, remain to be seen, Dinsmore said.

"The retail world is in such a state of flux right now that nobody is really committing to do anything," he said. "Everybody is hoping to get through Christmas. With declining sales, retailers don't need to be opening stores."

As for the theater and small-retail side of Kapolei Commons, "We're actively leasing the space around (the theaters) and we're in discussion with a number of retail tenants for what we're calling the entertainment center, but we're not going to push that button until spring," Dinsmore said.

"We want to see how the Target and the rest of the boxes open and then assess the environment at that point," he said.

Dinsmore declined to name other potential tenants, although a number of potential retailers and restaurants are listed on the Kapolei Commons Web site.

The upcoming December issue of Kapolei Magazine, put out by Kapolei's master planner, Kapolei Property Development Inc., also lists likely tenants as "Let's Party" and Kua Aina, the burger chain.

REASONS FOR OPTIMISM

Several blocks away, at 889 Kamokila Blvd., the 3-acre Crossroads at Kapolei shopping center opened across the street from the Consolidated Theaters' Kapolei Entertainment Complex.

Carol Ai May, vice president of the new Simply Organized store, said last Saturday's grand opening went well despite the rain. An offshoot of City Mill, also run by the Ai family, the 12,000-square-foot store sells items consumers can use to organize their lives from shelving to laundry hampers.

A flagship Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory is expected to open either next week or the week after, May said.

A Teddy's Burger outlet is also scheduled to open in the future, May said, but at this point there are no other tenants.

"We are currently talking to a yogurt place and some restaurants," May said.

Asked if, like Kapolei Commons, some retailers have backed out of leasing at Crossroads, May said, "There have been some Mainland companies who were planning to come to Hawai'i, or expand, who are no longer doing that. Everyone's a little skittish right now."

Despite the bad economy, Ai said, her company still thinks Kapolei is a great place for new retail over the long haul.

"We think our location is fantastic," she said. "It's where all the homes are coming up."

Dinsmore agreed. "We're completely bullish on Kapolei; we're waiting for the economy to catch up," he said. He noted that the way Kapolei Commons is laid out makes it easy to develop in phases.

Said Hamasu, the analyst: "It's been under-retailed, that's why you have so much retail going in. And you have a couple of job centers like Disney and Ko Olina going up. You also have the Judiciary building going up. Those are some of the positives."