Lānaʻi Affordable Housing Project Moves Forward

contributed by Maui County Councilmember Gabe Johnson in Between Pines

On June 16, 2025, Ikaika ‘Ohana and I met with the community at the Filipino Clubhouse to discuss the County of Maui’s  Lānaʻi affordable housing project. Doug Bigley, Tom Fisher, and I spoke on the upcoming project which has recently secured $17.2 million in the FY ’26 County budget. 

 The meeting was well attended even though some folks couldn’t make it because of the afternoon schedule.  Ikaika 'Ohana and I plan to have numerous future project meetings, including in the evening. For now, I hope I can summarize with clarity what was discussed in the Filipino Clubhouse. 

 Ikaika ‘Ohana plans to build phase 1 on the fully entitled land Maui County owns at the end of 5th street, behind Hawaiian homes.  In phase 1 we will have 46 single family homes, and 26 multi-family kupuna homes, totaling 72 affordable units.  The single-family homes will follow the rent to own model that Ikaika 'Ohana has managed on Hawaii island and will ideally break ground this year in November.  

 A project of this size with no existing infrastructure such as roads, water, and wastewater will take roughly 24 months to build out.  However, much will be happening during that time.  The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands plans to build 75 homes to completely eliminate their wait list on Lana’i.  As you may know, builders can reduce costs if they share infrastructure borders with other developments and construction is done concurrently.  

 Many residents also have seen me bring military personal to the island recently.  We are in talks with their Innovate Readiness Training Program (IRT) to provide free health care, dental, and optometry for 2 weeks with their Tropic Care program in the summer of 2026. The following year I have submitted an application that they come back and build out infrastructure to and construct a category 5 hurricane shelter within the County’s property.  I am pushing hard to make our island resilient, safe, healthy and bring down the shared costs of these new housing developments.  

 Many of you want to know the precise details of the project and how much rent will be.  Ikaika ‘Ohana is a non-profit developer who will be the onsite manager for phase 1 and will help facilitate and share information with our community.  The rents in the homes will be following HUD guidelines for Area Median Income (AMI) for  Lānaʻi City.  The project is targeting lower income residents with AMI’s ranging from 30%-80%.  You can check on the Maui County’s website at www. Mauicounty.gov/1825/affordable-sales-rental-guidelines to see how much exactly you would be paying per your circumstance.  

 The number of people in your household, the number of bedrooms, and the total household income will be used in the formula to create your rent.  In 2021, my team and I went door to door and interviewed 400 households within  Lānaʻi City, and we found that overwhelmingly people wanted to rent to own.  Some folks need extra time to build a downpayment, get their credit score higher, or finish schooling.  This model will give you 15 years living in your rental before you can buy it at an extremely affordable rate. 

 Ikaika ‘Ohana is also willing to follow a residential preference lottery system like the one I wrote for Bill 111.  My bill gives preference to families who have lived here the longest, for example, it allows for the Builder to pull 4 names out of the lottery and rank them by how many years the applicant has resided here.  This allows the folks who are born and raised on island or who have lived the here longest the greatest chance to get into these units. 

 I’m sure many folks have lots of questions so I will finish with just some facts on the project.  There is a proposed 6,000 square foot community center, a 2.83 acre park, and the plan is to have 33 parking stalls at the Senior Housing.  Of the 46 single family homes there will be 38 3 bedrooms and 8 4 bedrooms, and they will sit on 6,000 minimum sqft lots.  The Senior Housing will have 24 1-bedroom units with 2 manager units with 3 bedrooms.  The project will be managed by Ikaika ‘Ohana and they will be looking for managers once it is complete.   

If anyone has more questions, please feel free to contact my office at 808 565-6100 or come by and talk story. 

Mahalo,
Gabe Johnson