Oʻahu housing news: new developments, rentals and affordable housing, Native Hawaiian homestead projects, and the city and state decisions that shape where people can live. For statewide prices and sales, see the Hawaiʻi Housing Market page.
OHA and DHHL sign deal for Native Hawaiian housing at Kakaʻako Makai.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands signed a tentative agreement Friday to build housing for Native Hawaiian families in Kakaʻako Makai, where the Legislature banned residential development in 2006.
Under the plan, OHA would convey a 3.3-acre lot at Ala Moana Boulevard and Forest Avenue to DHHL. DHHL envisions about 400 to 450 condominium units, mainly in two towers within the area’s 200-foot height limit, reserved for sale to its beneficiaries. OHA would keep a commercial interest in the project. Reports differ slightly on the unit count.
The project is possible because DHHL can exempt itself from state and county land-use rules. DHHL has a waitlist of roughly 30,000 beneficiaries. OHA has also floated a hotel, an amphitheater and a cultural center for its Kakaʻako Makai land.
Sen. Sharon Moriwaki said residents object because the site, near a former dump and incinerator, is unhealthy, and she urged the state to give the agencies other land. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi endorsed the plan. OHA Chair Kaialiʻi Kahele said the signing “is not the finish line.”
What to watch: The agreement is tentative, and neighbors and lawmakers are likely to keep pressing on health and land-use questions.
Earlier updates and background
- 1921: Congress passed the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, setting aside land for Native Hawaiian homesteads.
- 2012: OHA received Kakaʻako Makai land from the state in a settlement over past ceded-land revenue.
