Six months after it was first approached with the idea, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has agreed to become majority owner of a housing manufacturing plant. OHA going into the
housing businessBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.comThe OHA board agreed yesterday to spend $500,000 in a joint venture with Quality Homes of the Pacific and other partners.
It is OHA's first business initiative in housing construction.
The new company's debut project will be to build 45 homes for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands in the Villages of Kapolei.
The company, spearheaded by attorney and former Hawaiian Homes Chairman Kali Watson, will manufacture the steel-framed homes at a plant in Kalaeloa.
The homes will be three-bedroom, two-bath structures with attached garages, fences, foundations and sprinkler systems. They will sell for $70,000. Comparable homes in the project sell for up to $170,000.
OHA Chairman Clayton Hee said OHA has recognized that housing remains a long-term critical issue for Hawaiians and their extended families.
"We are proud that our first economic business endeavor as a majority business owner is to provide shelter for our people and the people of Hawaii," Hee said.
OHA will have a majority interest in Quality Homes. The Hawaii Construction Laborers' Union will have a 25 percent interest, while the nonprofit Hawaiian Community Development Board and MH Consultants, a mainland firm, will each have a 12.5 percent share of the company.
Watson first approached the OHA board in late August about becoming a partner in prefabricated houses.
He had said the idea came out of a need to find more affordable and quicker ways to produce good-quality homes for native Hawaiians.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
