(Naʻalehu, Hawai‘i Island) – The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) offered 38 residential Vacant Lots within the Discovery Harbour Subdivision in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi Island on Saturday, June 5, 2021.

DHHL hosted the virtual lot selection meeting at the Na’alehu Community Center as a walk-through event following social distancing and gathering guidelines, including the use of a virtual portion of the meeting.

Applicants on the Hawaiʻi Island Waiting List with application dates up to January 7, 2021, were invited to attend a virtual orientation in May. Beneficiaries were then given the opportunity to attend one of three Vacant Lot workshops to learn about the building process and connect with homebuilding resources, including HPM Building Supply, Honsador Lumber, and Habitat for Humanity, ahead of the lot selection meeting.

DHHL’s Vacant Lot offer is among a variety of options provided to beneficiaries. The product is unique in that it allows a family to select and construct a home that best fits its needs.

“This is our second lot selection on Hawai‘i island in the last two months and it is always wonderful to be in-person with our beneficiaries as they select their homestead lot,” said Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair William J. Ailā Jr. “DHHL has received a record amount of Capital Improvement funding from the state in this recent legislative session and we look forward to continuing to build the infrastructure needed to develop the Department’s landholdings here on Hawai‘i Island and throughout the state.”

In addition to the Vacant Lot offer in Discovery Harbour, DHHL recently offered a Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase product within Laʻi ʻŌpua Village 4 – Akau in Kealakehe to beneficiaries who met area median income criteria.

Further Hawaiʻi Island development will continue with the groundbreaking of Subsistence Agricultural pilot projects in Honomū and Panaewa in the coming months.