11 affordable homes coming to Kilauea
KILAUEA — A project that will create 11 affordable homes on Kaua‘i is underway.
Kauhale O Namahana, located across the street from the Kilauea post office, is the first new construction by Permanently Affordable Living Kaua‘i (PAL), which purchased the property in 2020.
The single-family homes, ranging from two to five bedrooms, will feature views of Namahana Mountain and the Kalihiwai Valley. A groundbreaking was held last week.
“We’re not permanently affordable housing, we’re permanently affordable living,” said PAL Founder and Executive Director Jim Edmonds. “We work really hard to get really nice houses to people who can then keep them.”
Edmonds touted the sustainable features of the development, including solar panels, edible landscaping, electric-vehicle charging stations, and possibly a shared electric vehicle.
The developers see these homes as a means of addressing the ongoing housing crisis.
“Families are being torn apart,” said Larry Graff, chief operating officer of PAL. “There’s more Hawaiians living in Las Vegas than in the entire state. And Kaua‘i is a more-intense version of whatever happens in the state in that regard. Multi-generational households are being torn away from their homeland. We want to bring them back and give them places to live.”
Between 2016 and 2020, some 40% of Kaua‘i renters paid more than 30% of their income on housing. Housing costs have only increased since then, from $628,333 for a single-family home in 2016 to $1.1 million in 2021, according to the Hawai‘i Association of Realtors.
The houses are value-engineered, with assistance from Habitat For Humanity, to be built as cost-effectively as possible.
Even so, the price of constructing housing on-island remains high, with PAL estimating that the 11 homes would cost about $5 million.
This construction cost means that, despite the nonprofit nature of the project, each home would still need to be sold for about $500,000, which Edmonds said is about half the market value.
PAL is in the process of creating its own construction company. It will be contracting out the work on the Kilauea project, which is expected to begin in the next few months. Homes could be finished and occupied by early next year.
“We’re going to come in here like a bat out of hell,” said Bill Chase, PAL construction consultant. “Fasten your seat belts.”
When completed, the homes will be offered to families making 120% annual median income or below — $112,100 for a family of four — with preference given to those already living and working in Kilauea.
Prospective buyers will be selected from the County of Kauai Homebuyers Program list.
In order to get on the list, first-time Kaua‘i homebuyers must register for Home Buyer Education classes with a HUD-approved education and counseling agency.
Hawai‘i Home Ownership Center offers this course and can be found here: www.hihomeownership.org/homebuyer-education-schedules.
Upon completion of the course, first-time homebuyers must submit a certificate of achievement and a Kaua‘i Resident Affordable Home Buyer Registration Form to the County Housing Agency to be placed on the Affordable Housing Waitlist.
Those on the list will be informed when affordable homes are for sale.
Putting their first project together was a long process for PAL, beginning with the purchase of the site, fundraising for overhead and construction costs, and working with the seller and other community partners to install the infrastructure.
“We don’t do it alone. From the seller of the property who gave us the price to make it possible, to the engineers who worked on the project diligently, to the good intentions of the county who have tried to work with us to expedite our request,” said Graff. “It’s a real community effort.”
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Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 808-647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.
These 11 SINGLE FAMILY HOMES that will be sold to families earning close to 120k a year will do nothing to solve the housing crisis. When the people we depend on for our day to day lives are working for less than 15$ an hour, how can we expect them to pay for this?
Why are you building single family homes, the most inefficient possible use of the land for housing? What will prevent the new owners from later selling the property to rich mainlanders for a healthy profit?
We have over 400 houseless persons on the island as of the last count, where is the transitional housing project to get them off the streets so they can get help?
Why did Felicia Cowden (Felicia Kowtow to modern colonialists) vote against a slight (we’re talking about like $1 per 1000$ they earn) tax increase on TVRs tax(54% of which are owned by people who live off island and function only to exploit the people of this island for profits that are being siphoned away from our local economy) that would have funded low income housing?
She said it wasn’t fair to these leaches to change the law without warning. I think it’s really just to appease the real estate people who donated the money to her campaign.
Why do people continue to vote for these horrible and corrupt local politicians that allow the ‘aina to be raped for a little bit of pocket change?
“Lost in paradise” is well named. He/she exhibits classic symptoms of socialist class envy, someone who will never be pleased until the all-powerful State confiscates every last cent from the producers of society and redistributes it to those who for whatever reason (usually lack of a value placed on education, or substance abuse) whose skills or lack thereof keep the value of their labor at subsistence level. Kauai is expensive. Not everyone can afford to live here. That’s the starting point. Beyond that, it’s a matter of deciding if it’s worth staying. Boo-hoo. That’s life.
Very Very inappropriate-NOT socialist envy-but speaking the truth. IN this modern society the historic imperialistic agenda has taken Hawaii away from Hawaiians. Hawaiian people are not lost in paradise though: the Kanaka are displaced and FORGOTTEN. Investors, politicians so motivated for money and not doing or making the right decisions for the very people that commercially are sold out to the economic opportunity of tourism. The Kanaka of this island deserve better-It is because of the Hawaiian people that tourists want to visit islands. The Hawaiian history, culture, language, traditions are why tourists want to visit the islands- The tourists want to vibe with the infamous ALOHA of the Hawaiian culture and yet the Hawaiian people are displaced from their very own lands. SO, so disheartening yet another culture exploited and disgraced by the decisions made for them; by the politicians who sold out the land to investors. Agreed too 500k is not affordable for the Kanaka- and only 11 homes- Population of Kauai is 79,000,000 give or take. Upside of course 11 homes is a start but NOT at that price and grossly disproportionate to the house less people currently on this island today.
Really incredible and interesting affordable and creative housing option. Should be extremely helpful for those that want to stay on the island and qualify. Thanks to all the people making this happen. Keep on keepin on.
This does nothing for the many low income kupuna who need housing, and must endure long arduous waitlists. Where’s the priority here? When I lived on Maui, in