Zuckerberg’s Kaloko LLC bought a 110-acre site on Kauai in December for $17 million, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has purchased more property in Hawaii which includes a reservoir that flooded and killed seven people in 2006.
Records show Zuckerberg’s Kaloko LLC bought a 110-acre site on Kauai in December for $17 million from a company owned by the Pflueger family, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
This latest purchase is Zuckerberg’s second this year: In March, he paid $53 million for nearly 600 acres of land on Kauai that includes a public beach and a working cattle ranch. That added to the 750 acres he purchased nearby in 2014.
The latest purchase includes most of a reservoir that unleashed the deadly flood 15 years ago after a section of the dam burst following 40 days of near-constant rain.
The reservoir remains unrepaired and on the state’s list of high-risk dams.
Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chang, said the couple are committed to doing their part of fulfilling legal requirements and promoting safety of the reservoir.
The couple plan to extend farming, ranching, conservation and wildlife protection work on the land, LaBolt said.
But the couple’s presence on the island has remained controversial in the seven years since they put down roots there.
Zuckerberg first angered neighbours in 2016 by constructing a 6-foot wall around his property with the intention of reducing highway and road noise.
One year later, Zuckerberg filed a lawsuit against the families who had ownership claims to parcels of land within his property, saying at the time that he’d filed the suit to ‘make sure smaller partial owners get paid for their fair share too.’ But residents described the move as ‘neocolonialism.’
