Maui wildfire evacuees have begun moving into a former hotel in Kihei that the state has been fixing up since it bought the 175-room property in March from a religious institute.
Gov. Josh Green announced Monday that eight households have received room keys to date and that more fire survivors later this week are being welcomed to the complex, which was developed as the Maui Sun Hotel then became the Haggai Institute and is now known as Hale ‘o La‘ie.
“These housing units provide a safe, secure and stable solution for families displaced by the Maui wildfires,” state Disaster Recovery Coordinator Luke Meyers said in a statement.
Units at Hale ‘o La‘ie are studios for single or double occupancy limited to three people per room, though larger households may occupy multiple rooms. All rooms are being provided with no rent or utility costs through at least August 2025.
Some of the property’s common areas — which include a swimming pool, a gym, a game room, a soccer field, two laundry rooms and a koi pond — were rejuvenated along with room interiors that received new TVs, compact-size refrigerators and microwave ovens.
There are 34 units with kitchenettes, but cooking on hot plates or similar devices is not permitted. There are plans by the property’s management firm, Paramount Hotels, to add electric grills outside by the pool.
Green said Hale ‘o La‘ie is part of an objective to provide as many housing options as possible for Maui wildfire survivors, who have a variety of unique circumstances and needs.
State officials announced in early July that survivors of the Aug. 8 wildfire that destroyed about 3,500 homes in Lahaina could apply to live at Hale ‘o La‘ie and a modular housing subdivision being developed in Lahaina through the Hawai‘i Interim Housing Program, administered under the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp.
To date, more than 425 applications have been submitted. Administrators encourage fire survivors to apply even if they are unsure of their eligibility. Information about the program is available at dbedt.hawaii.gov/hhfdc/hawaiistaterecovers.
“We urge wildfire survivors to consider Hale ‘O La‘ie as their interim housing solution,” Dean Minakami, HHFDC executive director, said in a statement. “We took great care to ensure that these units were converted into living spaces where the survivors can feel at home while they deal with other challenges created by the fires.”
HHFDC purchased the property in a $38 million deal that was arranged before the wildfire so Maui County, under a 75-year land lease with HHFDC, could convert the property to teacher housing, affordable workforce housing and prekindergarten classrooms after major renovations.
The complex was developed in 1991 as a hotel catering largely to local residents. Four years later, with the hotel struggling financially, Atlanta-based Haggai International Institute for Advanced Leadership Training Inc. bought the property and turned it into a Christian missionary training center.
Haggai in 2020 tried to interest premium-brand hotel operators in a sale effort, and Paramount Hotels with a partner agreed to a purchase in 2022 under a plan to make use of the property for transient workforce accommodations serving traveling nurses, construction workers and others.
Later, the state negotiated a new sale involving Haggai, Paramount and its partner, Pacific Rim Land Inc., and the Legislature in May 2023 appropriated $45 million for HHFDC to acquire the property so Maui County could carry out its conversion plan.
“We are grateful for the funding provided by the Legislature and the hard work put into this effort by Maui County, our sister state agencies and our management agent, Paramount Hotels, which expeditiously managed an extensive maintenance program to bring the units online,” Minakami said.
