The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) offered Hawaiʻi Island beneficiaries a Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase opportunity on Saturday, April 17, 2021.
Sixty homes initiated the project within the Villages of Laʻi ʻŌpua in Kealakehe, Hawaiʻi Island.
DHHL hosted the lot selection meeting for pre-qualified beneficiaries at the La’i ‘Ōpua Community Center as a walk-through event following social distancing and gathering guidelines, including the use of a virtual portion of the meeting. A virtual orientation was held in January.
The first 60 homes, a portion of the greater 118-unit Laʻi ʻŌpua Village 4 – ʻĀkau, broke ground for vertical construction in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional 103 lots will be built subsequently to complete Laʻi ʻŌpua Village 4 – ʻĀkau and the current Laʻi ʻŌpua Village 5.
Laʻi ʻŌpua UI lessees who met the household income requirements and other selection criteria were given the first selection opportunity since they currently hold a lease for the Village of Laʻi ʻŌpua subdivision. Any rental units available after the UI’s selection were offered to applicants on DHHL’s Hawaiʻi Island Residential Waiting List based on their application date. Other requirements, including household income and selection criteria set by the property management company, also had to be met.
The Department’s Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase product targets qualifying families who earn up to 30 percent, 40 percent, and 60 percent of the area median income. This program differs from a rent-to-own product, where rent will not contribute to the purchase of the home. Instead, the tenant’s Area Median Income (AMI) level at the initial qualification to occupy the units will be the same AMI level used in determining the sale price at the end of the 15 years.
Producing a Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase program requires public and private partnerships to successfully deploy financing tools and tax credits. Laʻi ʻŌpua will use, in part, federal and state low-income housing tax credit equity secured by Hunt Capital Partners, in collaboration with Ikaika ʻOhana and Urban Housing Communities. Coastal Construction Co. is acting as the project’s general contractor with architectural firm Design Partner, Inc. ThirtyOne50 Management will function as the rental property manager.
“As we close in on the 100th centennial of the signing of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, our kuleana to provide an affordable entry point for native Hawaiians to return to their ancestral lands has never been more critical,” said Deputy to the Chair Tyler Iokepa Gomes. “These types of public and private partnerships are a part of this administration’s push to create more diversified and affordable options for our beneficiaries.”
The project will provide affordable single-family rental homes for DHHL undivided interest lessees and waiting list applicants who may convert their rental into a 99-year homestead lease after 15 years.
In addition to the development in Kealakehe, DHHL is in the process of developing several other Hawaiʻi Island projects, including the upcoming offering of Vacant Lots in Discovery Harbor and the groundbreaking of its Subsistence Agricultural pilot projects in Honomū and Panaewa.
2 comments
IMUA- Finally someone gets it. now if we can just get our crooked polticians to STOP ANY /ALL SALES UNDER 500 Thousand from outsiders- MAYBE Hawaii’s Families can stay and live where they were born, keep the ohana together.
Call ige and every person in politics and demand./..PROTEST…….Hawaii’s lands BELONG to the people of Hawaii -not new arrivals – btw- its not a racist LocaI posting this- I AM Haole and i have been calling every gov since Dingle and asking for a STOP SALES < 300 k Then.
In the next 10 yrs we will be a early 2000's Version of Oahu (population-violence wise) NOW is the time to standup and Take Action. Time for talk is over, what did talk get you ? BROKEN PROMISES, BS MORE LIES.
AN "anutter" thing to quote my 4 yr old Hapa grandson.
Hawaii NEEDS to take the lead and VET EVERY NEW ARRIVAL ******BEFORE THEY MOVE HERE****
ELIMINATE /PREVENT DEADBEATS/THUGS/PUNKS ALL CRIMINALS- ALL WORTHLESS WORKLESS HOPELESS HOMELESS~ ITS AN ISLAND CHAIN– DEMAND THIS CHANGE. NO Work Ethucs-No Money ~dont come to be a burden AND TAKE MONEY INTENDED FOR THE PPL OF HAWAII.
NOT INTENDED TO BE CONSIDERED A RACIST RANT/OR HATE SPEECH~~~ONLY~~~~~~ FOR THE SURVIVAL OF HAWAII AND HER PEOPLE. i know its not my place to ASSUME i have the right to speak for all Hawaii's People~
I have set back for too many years and watched the families being broken apart/LOSING HOMES/ LAND/JOBS- see the sadness and Misery because the ALOHA was MISTAKEN for WEAKNESS/ ignorance BY OUTSIDERS.
if not me- who ?
if not now-when ? Now is the time to UNITE – NOT the typical DNC ~DIVIDE N CONQUER Mentality, thats what they want us to do~
What DHHL is doing is The most Forward Thinking i have ever seen in Hawaii Nei- i know as a long time Transplant there has always been doubt about the goal and agenda- THIS SHOULD SHUT ALL THE DOUBT DOWN- They are helping those who prove they want to help themselves. This is a GREAT THING !!!
BUT THAT BEING SAID……………THE STATE OF HAWAII SHOULD NOT HAVE ONE IOTA OF POWER IN THE DHHL KOKO/ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION ~ IT SHOULD BE AN ALL HAWAIIAN THING.
UNTIL THE “STATE” IS OUT OF THAT.——DHHL HAS THEIR HANDS TIED/THEIR VOICES MUTED/ AND THEIR POWERS LIMITED.
THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE~-DHHL BEING SUBJECTED TO THE CORRUPTION/INCOMPETENCE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII IS UTTERLY INCOMPREHENSIBLE. ITS LIKE WTF !!
WHAT IF BLOOD QUANTUM DECIDED THEIR FATE ON THEIR FUTURE/THEIR LIVES ? ARCHAIC DEMOCRAT MENTALITY.
FIGHT FOR YOUR FUTURE OR DIE FROM YOUR FEARS~ THE THING ABOUT FEAR – YOU DIE EVERYDAY.
THANK YOU DHHL—— SOMEONE Seen the PROBLEM and YOU GUYS FOUND The SOLUTION.
the best feel good story of the 21 st century NOW MAKE IT BETTER – TAKE THE STATE OVERSIGHT/POWER OUT OF DHHL- LET THEM POLICE THEMSELVES AND DECIDE THEIR OWN FUTURE AND DESTINY.
***********IMUA HAWAIIANS~ ITS POSSIBLE IF “UNITED” AGAINST OUTSIDE INTERFERENCES .**********