Plans to construct upwards of 250 houselots at Anahola for Native Hawaiians are in various stages of completion, according to officials from the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The furthest along is a 46-lot subdivision, with construction plans approved
Plans to construct upwards of 250 houselots at Anahola for Native Hawaiians are in various stages of completion, according to officials from the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
The furthest along is a 46-lot subdivision, with construction plans approved by all regulating governmental agencies with the exception of DHHL.
The largest is a 181-lot residential subdivision, for which design plans are about half done.
Infrastructure construction was completed in August for an 11-lot residential subdivision, at a cost of nearly $1 million. And infrastructure construction was also completed for a two-lot subdivision on Maia Road, at a cost of $190,000, last June.
State DHHL officials are also moving ahead with residential projects in Anahola and Hanapepe intended to provide housing for beneficiaries of Native Hawaiian descent from Kaua’i and elsewhere in the state.
Work on some of the “homestead development projects” is underway, while other projects are in the planning and design stages, DHHL officials said in the department’s November and December newsletter, Ka Nuhou.
The homes are being constructed or being planned at a time when the market price of homes has soared in most parts of Kaua’i, particularly the North Shore, due to high-price sales and repeat sales.
The trend, in many cases, has had a ripple effect on the cost of housing elsewhere on the island, driving up home prices that make it difficult for first-time buyers to get into homes.
Across the state, 19,000 DHHL applicants are currently waiting to receive department lands, according to Hawaiian Homes Commission Chairman Micah Kane.
Most of the applicants earn less than 80 percent of Hawai’i’s median income, he said.
The median household income dropped from $51,010 in 2000-2001 to $47,748 in 2001-2002, according to the latest figures available. The decline was attributed to the impact from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, local economists have said.
At the moment, DHHL currently administers more than 4,000 single-family homestead lots on Kaua’i.
Department beneficiaries pay $1 a year for up to 99 years plus property taxes and mortgages, for leased lots ranging from 6,500 square feet to an acre,
In the department newsletter, DHHL officials reported construction has gotten underway on 20 “self-help” houses in Hanapepe.
New homeowners and their families reduce the cost of building their new homes by donating time and labor. The new homeowners usually work side by side with experienced builders who supervise the construction work.
A final environmental assessment has been completed, and engineering designs and construction plans are moving, for construction of 49 vacant, improved lots in Kekaha, Kane said.
DHHL officials and consultants from Group 70 International will discuss long-range use plans for the 20,500 acres of DHHL land on Kaua’i at a public meeting set for this Friday, Jan. 9, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Kapa’a Neighborhood Center.
Another meeting is set for Friday, Jan. 23, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Waimea Neighborhood Center.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
