During the early 1900's the Kahului Town Center site was the center of the plantation village. The camp village included stores, eateries, movie theaters and residential housing. Then in 1948, Asa Baldwin Manager of Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company announced that a new city would be built in Kahului, to be known as Dream City.

In the 1950's, Kahului was transformed to a modern suburban community that provided homes that the local plantation workers could own. The innovative thinking and perfect timing made Dream City the largest development in Hawaii at that time.

Dream City

Asa Baldwins vision for Dream City included 4,000 new homes developed by Kahului Development Co. (KD Co.), now known as A&B Properties, a division of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. The city grew from the former sugar cane lands around the company's harbor and warehousing facilities in Kahului. KD Co. believed that in order to become a real community, shopping facilities were necessary. Thus, the Kahului Shopping Center was opened, touted to be "the first shopping center west of the Mississippi River" and built to serve the rapidly growing Dream City. The goals of Dream City were to promote a balanced community where people of all races and creeds could come together.