Department aims to award more than 7,500 leases and develop 3,000 lots
“ʻAʻohe hana nui ke alu ʻia – no task is too big when done together by all”
This ʻōlelo noʻeau captures the spirit of collective achievement. This saying also serves as a guiding principle for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ (DHHL) multi-pronged approach to alleviating the long-standing wait experienced by many beneficiaries hoping for a homestead.
“It’s been more than a century since the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was enacted, yet the department has awarded a dismal 10,000 leases,” said DHHL Director Kali Watson. “With more than 29,000 of our people on the waitlist, it’s crucial we take action. We need to get creative.”
It is the department’s objective to grant more than 7,500 project, residential, agricultural and pastoral leases in the next several years. With 28 active housing development projects across the pae ʻāina, DHHL also aims to award more than 3,000 single-family homestead lots within the next five years.
Achieving this goal requires bold new strategies, collaborative partnerships, and the backing of our state and county leaders.
“Programs like those stewarded by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands need our state’s full support,” said Gov. Josh Green, M.D. “Investments in the Hawaiian community are investments in our entire state and this administration will work collaboratively with DHHL to ensure every beneficiary has a house to call home.”
New and expanded homestead communities are being developed. These include:
- Oʻahu: Kaʻuluokahaʻi, 700 units; Kaupeʻa, 60 units; ʻEwa Beach 380 units; Maunalua (Hawaiʻi Kai), 80 units; Māʻili, 350 units.
- Maui: Puʻuhona, 161 units; Honokōwai, 50 units; Lei- aliʻi, 181 units; Wailuku, 207 units; Waiʻehu Mauka, 311 units; Kamalani, 400 units.
- Hawaiʻi Island: Laʻiʻōpua, 580 units; Honomū, 40 units; Kaumana, 168 units; Honokaʻa, 296 units; Pālamanui, 40 units; Panaʻewa, 600 units.
- Kauaʻi: Hanapēpē, 82 units; Anahola subsistence agricultural lots, 115 units; Līhuʻe, 1,100 units.
- Molokaʻi: Hoʻolehua agricultural lots, 20 units; Nāʻiwa agricultural lots, 16 units.
- Lānaʻi: Lānaʻi residential lots, 75 units.
In 2022, the department benefited from a vital allocation of $600 million in general funds from the Hawaiʻi State Legislature through the passing of Act 279. Known as the “Waitlist Reduction Act,” Act 279 was specifically designed to support the development of a comprehensive strategy focused on reducing the DHHL waitlist.
But while $600 million is a good start, it falls short of what is truly needed.
“To successfully complete our current projects and provide homes to all those waiting we’d need an estimated $6 billion,” Watson said. “The additional funds requested would help reduce the waitlist.”
Legislation like House Bill 606, introduced by the Native Hawaiian caucus, seeks to secure funding and fulfill the department’s promise to return Native Hawaiians to the land.
Since assuming leadership in March 2023, Watson has implemented history-making moves and revived initiatives that have been absent for decades.
In 2023, DHHL awarded 15 first-of-its-kind subsistence agricultural lots in Panaʻewa on Hawaiʻi Island in August. Four months later, 25 pastoral lots were awarded in Kahikinui, Maui, marking the department’s first selection of pastoral lots since the program’s inception in 1999.
Nearly a year after the devastating Maui wildfires, DHHL brought hope to 52 families in June 2024 with the island’s first residential home offering in 17 years. In October, the department launched its first-ever in-house permitting program, streamlining the building permit process and allowing DHHL to advance on its projects. The following month, 68 agricultural lots were awarded on Hawaiʻi Island, representing the largest agricultural lot offering since the late-1980s.
And DHHL celebrated a landmark occasion this past December by breaking ground on its first high-rise rental apartment, the $155 million Hale Mōʻiliʻili. The event was the start of a two-year development process to create the state’s only affordable housing project exclusively serving DHHL beneficiaries.
This year marks the start of project leases – this administration’s take on undivided interest lease awards last issued in the early 2000s. Project leases will connect waitlisters to a particular place or project and will be awarded before the development of a homestead community. This strategy will allow Native Hawaiian beneficiaries the opportunity to transfer their lease to an approved heir who meets the 25% blood quantum criteria.
The department is set to acquire, renovate and upgrade its first townhouse project, the Courtyards of Waipouli. The 82-unit condominium in Kapaʻa, Kauaʻi, will provide those on the waitlist with a chance to pay rents below market value with the option of purchasing the units after 10 or 15 years.
Additional efforts include documenting and clearing vacant homestead lots, programs for kūpuna and transitional housing, the utilization of low-income housing tax credits and the push for developers to design communities that align with the financial capabilities of lessees.
Creating a lasting future for a trust championed by a prince is a big task. Nonetheless, beneficiaries can expect a seismic shift in the program’s direction as key components of Watson’s vision come together.
“We’re building a foundation for the next 100 years,” Watson said. “Our ʻāina is the backbone of the Hawaiian people, and it is our mission to ensure Hawaiians remain connected to the land for generations to come; just as Prince Kūhiō envisioned.”
