Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly expanded his sprawling $300 million compound in Hawaii by nearly 1,000 acres — stoking yet more controversy with locals on the idyllic Pacific island chain, based on a report.
The newest expansion on the Meta CEO’s massive estate on the Hawaiian island of Kauai includes 962 acres of ranch land purchased earlier this yr under an LLC, based on the tech news site WIRED.
An individual near the sale estimated the acquisition price at greater than $65 million. The acquisition brings Zuckerberg’s total holdings on Kauai to greater than 2,300 acres.
Property records place the land’s market value at around $75 million.
Inside the prevailing compound, Zuckerberg has constructed two mansions with a combined floor area comparable to a football field, a gym, a tennis court, several guest houses, ranch buildings, saucer-shaped treehouses, a water system and a tunnel resulting in an underground storm shelter in regards to the size of an NBA basketball court, outfitted with blast-resistant doors and an escape hatch.
Recent planning documents released through public records show plans for 3 more large buildings, starting from 7,820 to 11,152 square feet — nearly 10 times the scale of the common home in Hawaii.
Two of them include 16 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms between them, arranged in a motel-style layout, with a shared lanai measuring greater than 1,300 square feet.
Each constructing features cameras, keypad locks and motion detection devices. Hoffine Barr described the buildings as short-term guest housing for family, friends and staff.
Satellite images show dozens of buildings on the property which have not yet appeared in public records. Based on bedroom counts within the documents WIRED reviewed, the compound could eventually accommodate greater than 100 people.
The vendor was the Mary Lucas Trust Estate, whose lands were previously leased to sugar plantations and later restored for cattle grazing. Zuckerberg’s spokesperson Brandi Hoffine Barr confirmed the acquisition to WIRED but didn’t comment on the scale or price.
“Mark and Priscilla proceed to make a house for his or her family and grow their ranching, farming, and conservation efforts at Koʻolau Ranch,” said Hoffine Barr.
“The overwhelming majority of the land is devoted to agriculture — including cattle ranching, organic ginger, macadamia nut, and turmeric farming, native plant restoration, and endangered species protection. After purchasing the ranch, they canceled the previous owner’s plans for 80 luxury homes.”
The couple’s investment now exceeds the $311 million fiscal yr 2024 operating budget for the island of Kauai.
A neighborhood islander who fished in the world contacted Zuckerberg’s representatives around 10 years ago to tell them that a part of the compound housed the stays of his great-grandmother and her brother, based on the report.
Julian Ako negotiated with Zuckerberg’s team for months before finally with the ability to gain access to the burial site and register the graves with Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources.
In response to WIRED, Ako tried unsuccessfully to locate the stays of other ancestor which may be buried on Zuckerberg’s property.
Hawaiian officials told WIRED that they confirmed “the probability (based on oral testimony) of additional burial sites.”
The burial site, first identified in 2015, was “fenced off and maintained” after being discovered, Hoffine Barr told the publication.
She added that employees are “sure by regulations that require reporting of inadvertent discoveries of iwi” — or Hawaiian ancestral bones.
But because employees on the project are sure by strict nondisclosure agreements, local residents fear that any future discovery of iwi could possibly be concealed.
“If the entire employees have signed these nondisclosure agreements, then mainly they’re sworn to silence,” Ako told WIRED.
“In the event that they uncover iwi — or bones — it’s going to be a challenge for that to ever develop into public knowledge, because they’re putting their jobs in jeopardy.”
Zuckerberg began buying land on Kauai in 2014, acquiring 700 acres near the town of Kilauea for roughly $100 million. The acquisition included parcels where lots of of local residents held kuleana rights — traditional Hawaiian legal entitlements whereby descendants of original Native Hawaiian landowners can claim ancestral lands.
In 2016, Zuckerberg filed “quiet title and partition” lawsuits against those residents to make clear ownership. He later dropped the suits after public backlash, however the legal process continued under kuleana descendant Carlos Andrade, who eventually won sole ownership of the land at auction.
In a 2017 op-ed, Zuckerberg wrote that Andrade, who died in 2022, could “proceed his quiet title motion and pass down the kuleana rights because he had lived on and cared for these lands for greater than 40 years.”
By spring 2021, Zuckerberg added greater than 560 acres of ranchland, a few of it abutting Larsen’s Beach. Later that yr, he purchased one other 110 acres, including the Kaloko Dam, an earthen reservoir that collapsed in 2006, killing seven people.
Zuckerberg’s presence on the island has drawn each support and skepticism. He has donated thousands and thousands to local nonprofits, including a charter school and a reasonable housing organization near the compound.
His projects have also created well-paying jobs. But many locals remain uneasy in regards to the influence of billionaires on the island’s future.
“If our island has any hope of remaining Hawaii, this type of activity has got to stop,” Puali‘i Rossi, a professor of Native Hawaiian studies at Kauai Community College, told WIRED.
“Eventually Hawaii isn’t going to appear to be Hawaii anymore — it’s going to be a resort community. Are we actually fascinated by 100 years from now, what this island goes to appear to be?”
The Post has sought comment from Ako and the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly expanded his sprawling $300 million compound in Hawaii by nearly 1,000 acres — stoking yet more controversy with locals on the idyllic Pacific island chain, based on a report.
The newest expansion on the Meta CEO’s massive estate on the Hawaiian island of Kauai includes 962 acres of ranch land purchased earlier this yr under an LLC, based on the tech news site WIRED.
An individual near the sale estimated the acquisition price at greater than $65 million. The acquisition brings Zuckerberg’s total holdings on Kauai to greater than 2,300 acres.
Property records place the land’s market value at around $75 million.
Inside the prevailing compound, Zuckerberg has constructed two mansions with a combined floor area comparable to a football field, a gym, a tennis court, several guest houses, ranch buildings, saucer-shaped treehouses, a water system and a tunnel resulting in an underground storm shelter in regards to the size of an NBA basketball court, outfitted with blast-resistant doors and an escape hatch.
Recent planning documents released through public records show plans for 3 more large buildings, starting from 7,820 to 11,152 square feet — nearly 10 times the scale of the common home in Hawaii.
Two of them include 16 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms between them, arranged in a motel-style layout, with a shared lanai measuring greater than 1,300 square feet.
Each constructing features cameras, keypad locks and motion detection devices. Hoffine Barr described the buildings as short-term guest housing for family, friends and staff.
Satellite images show dozens of buildings on the property which have not yet appeared in public records. Based on bedroom counts within the documents WIRED reviewed, the compound could eventually accommodate greater than 100 people.
The vendor was the Mary Lucas Trust Estate, whose lands were previously leased to sugar plantations and later restored for cattle grazing. Zuckerberg’s spokesperson Brandi Hoffine Barr confirmed the acquisition to WIRED but didn’t comment on the scale or price.
“Mark and Priscilla proceed to make a house for his or her family and grow their ranching, farming, and conservation efforts at Koʻolau Ranch,” said Hoffine Barr.
“The overwhelming majority of the land is devoted to agriculture — including cattle ranching, organic ginger, macadamia nut, and turmeric farming, native plant restoration, and endangered species protection. After purchasing the ranch, they canceled the previous owner’s plans for 80 luxury homes.”
The couple’s investment now exceeds the $311 million fiscal yr 2024 operating budget for the island of Kauai.
A neighborhood islander who fished in the world contacted Zuckerberg’s representatives around 10 years ago to tell them that a part of the compound housed the stays of his great-grandmother and her brother, based on the report.
Julian Ako negotiated with Zuckerberg’s team for months before finally with the ability to gain access to the burial site and register the graves with Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources.
In response to WIRED, Ako tried unsuccessfully to locate the stays of other ancestor which may be buried on Zuckerberg’s property.
Hawaiian officials told WIRED that they confirmed “the probability (based on oral testimony) of additional burial sites.”
The burial site, first identified in 2015, was “fenced off and maintained” after being discovered, Hoffine Barr told the publication.
She added that employees are “sure by regulations that require reporting of inadvertent discoveries of iwi” — or Hawaiian ancestral bones.
But because employees on the project are sure by strict nondisclosure agreements, local residents fear that any future discovery of iwi could possibly be concealed.
“If the entire employees have signed these nondisclosure agreements, then mainly they’re sworn to silence,” Ako told WIRED.
“In the event that they uncover iwi — or bones — it’s going to be a challenge for that to ever develop into public knowledge, because they’re putting their jobs in jeopardy.”
Zuckerberg began buying land on Kauai in 2014, acquiring 700 acres near the town of Kilauea for roughly $100 million. The acquisition included parcels where lots of of local residents held kuleana rights — traditional Hawaiian legal entitlements whereby descendants of original Native Hawaiian landowners can claim ancestral lands.
In 2016, Zuckerberg filed “quiet title and partition” lawsuits against those residents to make clear ownership. He later dropped the suits after public backlash, however the legal process continued under kuleana descendant Carlos Andrade, who eventually won sole ownership of the land at auction.
In a 2017 op-ed, Zuckerberg wrote that Andrade, who died in 2022, could “proceed his quiet title motion and pass down the kuleana rights because he had lived on and cared for these lands for greater than 40 years.”
By spring 2021, Zuckerberg added greater than 560 acres of ranchland, a few of it abutting Larsen’s Beach. Later that yr, he purchased one other 110 acres, including the Kaloko Dam, an earthen reservoir that collapsed in 2006, killing seven people.
Zuckerberg’s presence on the island has drawn each support and skepticism. He has donated thousands and thousands to local nonprofits, including a charter school and a reasonable housing organization near the compound.
His projects have also created well-paying jobs. But many locals remain uneasy in regards to the influence of billionaires on the island’s future.
“If our island has any hope of remaining Hawaii, this type of activity has got to stop,” Puali‘i Rossi, a professor of Native Hawaiian studies at Kauai Community College, told WIRED.
“Eventually Hawaii isn’t going to appear to be Hawaii anymore — it’s going to be a resort community. Are we actually fascinated by 100 years from now, what this island goes to appear to be?”
The Post has sought comment from Ako and the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
