Oahu’s North Shore Club Is Boldly Ambitious, Even For Hawai’i

Oahu’s North Shore is, in some ways, a rare ocean-facing vestige of pre-colonial Hawaii, a place to experience unspoiled coastal terrain as natives have for centuries. There’s a reason it’s been a magnet for generations of surfers.

Ironically, the North Shore is also the site of Hawaii’s first luxury resort. The Haleiwa Hotel was erected at the mouth of the Anahulu River in 1899 and stood there for 44 years, in stark contrast to its rural surroundings.

History finds funny ways to repeat itself. The Haleiwa Hotel could not compete with the burgeoning tourism district of Waikiki, precipitating its demise. Now, 80 years later, the North Shore is taking another stab at appealing to the 1 percent — this time, 11 miles up the highway at Turtle Bay.

The Future of Hawaii’s North Shore

Anchored by the rebranded Turtle Bay resort, which completed its $250 million makeover under the Ritz-Carlton banner in 2023, Oahu’s North Shore is doubling down on its reputation as a more exclusive, less dense tourist zone than the glut of high-rises overlooking Waikiki Beach. Site work is beginning on the North Shore Club, a planned community of 100 luxury residences arranged in low-rise, five-plex buildings to preserve the views of the coast.

The residences will start at $7.5 million and offer all the luxury amenities one would expect for the cost: a fitness and wellness center, pickleball and tennis courts, a members-only Ocean Club with fine and casual dining, and services like a club concierge, valet, and 24-hour security. Denton House Design Studio was selected to design the three- to six-bedroom residences. The first phase is anticipated to debut in early 2027.

“Future phases are sequenced to ensure design integrity, construction quality and a seamless resident experience,” said Tyler Mills, Chief Development Officer and General Counsel of Areté Collective. “Areté Collective is committed to delivering with precision and purpose – honoring the land, enriching the community and setting a new benchmark for luxury living.”

What will that look like?

The Native Landscape On Hawaii’s North Shore

Rebecca Buchan, Co-Founder and CEO of Areté Collective, said the North Shore Club was “developed with deep reverence for the land and lifestyle of O‘ahu’s North Shore” by embracing organic architecture, native landscaping and indoor-outdoor living concepts. The project will employ locally based consultants, contractors and artisans during the design and construction process, she said, and create permanent roles in hospitality, property management, and guest services for locals once complete.

Those guiding principles won’t satisfy the surfers or preservationists, for whom any construction is an unwelcome development. It will, however, save the area just east of the rechristened Ritz-Carlton O‘ahu, Turtle Bay from becoming as dense as Oahu’s main tourist zones. The North Shore Club is designed as a private residential community, and is not intended to function as a short-term rental or timeshare destination.

“While long-term leasing may be permitted under certain conditions, short-term rentals are restricted to preserve the privacy, exclusivity and strong sense of place that define the experience for our community,” Mills said.

For those who can afford to buy into the North Shore Club, it will at least attempt to maintain, not transform, what’s already there. The public will still have access to the adjacent coastal trails, and the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Golf Course. That should offer some solace to those looking out at the construction site from their Ritz-Carlton suites, which offer some of the least-spoiled views of any luxury hotel in Hawaii.

North Shore Club residents will have exclusive membership access to the site’s other 18-hole course, to be redesigned by David McLay Kidd (who designed the Nanea Golf Club on Hawaii’s Big Island). They will also have a primary stake in the concerns already expressed by local residents — traffic congestion, sea level rise, and coastal erosion — that seasonal tourists might not.

Any master-planned residential community in Hawaii is inherently ambitious. The land is scarce, and the fight to preserve what remains is as evergreen as the rainforest itself. The North Shore Club exceeds the typical developer’s ambitions by pricing residences out of the range of most potential buyers, and promising to deliver luxury amenities to match the price. The segment of the 1 percent who buys in will likely — hopefully — understand what makes their particular plot special, perhaps with a surfboard or two at the ready.