MEDIA RELEASE: DHHL Awards Nearly 400 Project Leases in West Hawaiʻi

 

STATE OF HAWAIʻI

KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

 

DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS

KA ʻOIHANA ʻĀINA HOʻOPULAPULA HAWAIʻI

JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR

KE KIAʻĀINA

 

KALI WATSON

DIRECTOR

KA LUNA HOʻOKELE

 

KATIE L. LAMBERT

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

KA HOPE LUNA HOʻOKELE

DHHL AWARDS NEARLY 400 PROJECT LEASES IN WEST HAWAIʻI

Event Adds to 790 Project Leases Awarded on Oʻahu Weeks Ago

 

DHHL beneficiary Kanani Takata accepts first West Hawaiʻi project lease award alongside Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke and state and county leaders.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 16, 2025

SOUTH KOHALA, HAWAIʻI ISLAND – Volcanic haze rolled in on ka makani pahoa Saturday veiling a sunny South Kohala sky, but nothing could obscure the air of excitement felt in the Monarchy Ballroom as the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands prepared to present nearly 400 project lease awards in West Hawaiʻi: a feat that hadn’t been done since the early 2000s.

More than 660 native Hawaiian beneficiaries and their ʻohana were invited to the Hilton Waikoloa Village April 12, 2025 for their opportunity to select between two homestead developments in West Hawaiʻi – Laʻi ʻŌpua in Kealakehe and Kailapa in Kawaihae.

On that day, everyone heard their names called; starting with the first application submitted in 1963 to the most recent in December 2023.

“Homesteads not only put our people back on the land; homesteads restore hope in our communities,” said Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke. “This administration will continue to invest in our Native Hawaiian community, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, to ensure our families have a home here in Hawaiʻi for generations to come.”

The leases, 368 in Laʻi ʻŌpua and 22 in Kailapa, represent a significant step toward homeownership for many native Hawaiians waiting decades. This initiative is part of DHHL’s comprehensive approach to addressing its waitlist by expediting homesteading opportunities.

“The success of our homesteading program relies on our ability to pivot towards the needs of our beneficiaries and project leases are one example of that,” said DHHL Director Kali Watson. “With developers in place and construction on the way, the department will deliver on some 1,200 units on Hawaiʻi Island in the next few years. Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole established homesteads in response to what some called a landless and dying race. Today we issue project leases to bring his vision to fruition.”

Unlike previous processes, beneficiaries secure a homestead lease prior to the completion of development. This approach gives families the chance to prepare for both financial and program requirements, thereby ensuring long-term stability and the opportunity to transfer their leases to eligible successors.

Act 279, the department’s transformational $600 million allocation of general funds set forth in 2022 by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature funded Laʻi ʻŌpua’s $32.9 million infrastructure costs.

‘Forever Homes’ for Families

The West Hawaiʻi project lease awards are the second of three major project lease distributions this year. DHHL awarded 790 leases in West Oʻahu in March and will award nearly a thousand on Maui at the end of the year. The department’s ambitious plan aims to issue more than 6,000 project leases statewide over the next two years.

Accepting a lease on behalf of her grandpa, on the waitlist since 1963, Kanani Takata was first up.

“I hear the cheers of the families that are celebrating a lease award and it is my prayer, my hope, that this would be able to bless generations now or future generations,” Takata said.

West Hawaiʻi project lease awardee Charmaine Davis succeeded to her mother’s lease and intends on passing it to her own daughter. Davis’ mother became an applicant in the late-1970s.

“Going forward, this is all about generations now,” said Davis. “We look forward to being able to provide and assist my grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren, in carrying on the legacy through Hawaiian homes. We have a forever home.”

The department is currently in the process of developing five additional projects on Hawaiʻi Island. These projects include:

• Honokaʻa: 296 units
• Kaumana: 168 units
• Palamanui: 132 units
• Panaʻewa: 600 units
• Laʻi ʻŌpua Village 4: 150 units

“We can no longer bypass individuals on our waitlist – doing so disregards the decades-long wait our families patiently endured and tarnishes the legacy Prince Kūhiō dedicated his life to building,” Watson added. “Each new home represents an opportunity for generational change and will be built in ways that are accessible, high quality, and sustainable for our Native Hawaiian families.”

Project leases provide a critical pathway to homeownership, offering options such as turnkey homes, owner-builder lots, and rent-to-own opportunities.

For more information about DHHL’s lease awards and upcoming projects, visit dhhl.hawaii.gov.

Click here to download visuals, soundbites.

B-ROLL (2:09)

SOUNDBITES

 

Kanani Takata, West Hawaiʻi project lease awardee,

 

(:32 seconds)

“I knew that grandpa would be the number one pick, and I also knew that I would be the one standing in as his proxy so I hear the cheers of the families that are celebrating the awards, or a lease award, for these people who have been sitting on the list like my grandpa since 1963, so for me, my prayer, my hope is that this would be able to bless generations whether it be now or future generations to come.”

 

Charmaine Davis, West Hawaiʻi project lease awardee

 

(:17 seconds)

“Going forward, this is all about generations now, we look forward to being able to provide and assist my grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren, in carrying on the legacy through Hawaiian homes, we have a forever home, a forever home.”

Nathan Kapule, West Hawaiʻi project lease awardee,

 

(:27 seconds)

“I wasn’t really sure until they called me, and when I saw that I go wow, and being the front of the list is something special, so that’s what I felt, it’s a special opportunity for me, there’s a reason why things happen, I think there’s a reason why, and it is to support my family and being native Hawaiian.”

# # #

 

About the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands:

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands carries out Prince Jonah Kūhiō  Kalanianaʻole’s vision of rehabilitating native Hawaiians by returning them to the land. Established by U.S. Congress in 1921 with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the Hawaiian homesteading program run by DHHL includes management of more than 200,000 acres of land statewide with the specific purpose of developing and delivering homesteading.

Media Contact:

Diamond Badajos

Information and Community Relations Officer

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

Cell: 808-342-0873

Email: [email protected]