Homes project in
Papakolea builds hope

Native Hawaiians hear about the
lower-priced 95 units last night

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

Solomon Fuller's mother died during what he said was a 50-year wait for a Hawaiian Home Lands residence on Oahu.

Years ago, she put Fuller's name on the list.

"I'm trying to carry on where she left off," Fuller said. "She put her whole lifetime and effort into this."

Fuller was one of several dozen people who came to a meeting in Kailua last night to learn about a new 95-unit Hawaiian Homes development in Papakolea near Roosevelt High School.

Fuller said he is not about to give up on his mother's dream to live on Hawaiian Home Lands.

He also sees the program, for people who are of at least 50 percent Hawaiian descent, as his best chance at providing a home for his wife and 2-year-old daughter.

"I'm going to try my best to at least get my family into a home," he said.

The Kalawahine Streamside project is the first Department of Hawaiian Home Lands development in urban Honolulu in more than 30 years.

Kali Watson, chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, said the state plans to offer as many as 1,000 home sites in Kapolei, Waianae and other areas of Oahu in the next two to three years.

The department has been able to develop a number of new sites in recent years because of a $600 million settlement with the state in 1995 over past use of home lands.

But the increased development will still help only a fraction of the 17,000 people on the waiting list for residential lots. More than 6,000 are waiting for homes on Oahu.

The three-bedroom homes and duplexes at Kalawahine Stream are priced from $180,000 to $235,000.

A similar home in nearby Pauoa Valley sells for $385,000, said Louis Kau, president of the project's developer, Kamehameha Investment Corp.

A family making $40,000 a year should qualify for the lowest-priced duplex, he said.

About 80 percent of those on the list are below the median income for the state, and Watson said the department is trying to help Hawaiians in lower-income groups qualify financially for homes.

The department allows family members to co-sign for a loan.

There are also tax credits and self-help housing programs. The department also allows people on home lands to rent to other native Hawaiians.

In Kapolei, the state is considering an experiment with a rent-to-own program.

"We're not the answer to all the native Hawaiian's housing problems, but I think we are filling and will fill a large segment of that demand or need," Watson said.

Even as the program puts more Hawaiians back on the land, Watson said, the list is getting longer because more eligible Hawaiians are signing up for the program.

The developer of the $26 million Kalawahine Stream project is a for-profit subsidiary of the Bishop Estate.

Watson said Kamehameha Investment Corp. did not win the bid to develop the project because it is connected to a Hawaiian organization, Bishop Estate.

Kau said the company is looking to bid on other home lands projects.

"Our parent educates the Hawaiians, so we feel very comfortable developing homes putting more Hawaiians on the land," Kau said.