“Club Lanai”: First look at Larry Ellison’s future eco-resort

]The former Pineapple Isle is abuzz over the nonstop changes — widely viewed as positive — that Oracle mogul Larry Ellison has brought to this quiet island of under 3,000 residents since taking ownership last June. I’ll write more about those in the coming weeks, but old-time Maui and Lānaīi visitors and potential eco-travelers may be most intrigued by Ellison’s plans for “Club Lanai,” a long-abandoned oceanfront destination near remote Lōpā Beach with a wharf once used by day trippers from Maui. Along with building desalinization plant and a second, larger runway at the airport — the other big news from Thursday night’s community meeting, reported to me by several local sources — Ellison wants to revive the palm-tree-graced area as an eco-friendly bungalow resort, perhaps similar to the old Kona Village or what used to exist on Moloka’i Ranch. He may even pave the bumpy, stone-strewn dirt road that takes about an hour from Lānaīi City, or (more controversially) turn a partial road and ancient Hawaiian trail from Manele Harbor into a faster route from the ferry.

Here’s a sneak peek at what’s there now, which just a few weeks ago was wildly overgrown. Ellison’s staff works fast…

All photos by Jeanne Cooper / SFGate

“Club Lanai”: First look at Larry Ellison’s future eco-resort