Real Estate

The Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corp. has closed on the purchase of the former Maui Sun Hotel in Kīhei from Haggai International Institute for Advanced Leadership Training, the state agency announced Thursday.

Maui County Council members gave final approval Friday to amend the county’s fiscal 2024 budget and provide financing from the Affordable Housing Fund for two housing projects in Central Maui.

Maui County Council members gave final approval Friday morning to an intergovernmental agreement for the state to purchase the 6.2-acre Haggai Institute for affordable long-term rental housing.

Members of the Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee received a presentation Wednesday on conceptual plans for the 1,600-unit Hoʻonani Village multifamily rental and commercial complex in Puʻunene.

The median price for a single-family home on Maui in February 2024 was $1,250,760, up 15.9% from the same time last year. The median price for a condo was $744,500, down 18.6% from the same time last year.

Mayor Richard Bissen and officials from the County’s Office of Recovery announced temporary modular home group housing projects being planned in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the State of Hawaiʻi and private developers to provide an estimated 4,000 interim housing units for wildfire survivors. The information was shared at the Disaster Recovery Community Update meeting held at the Lahaina Civic Center on Wednesday night.

The community is encouraged to attend the County of Maui’s Weekly Disaster Recovery Community Update Meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 at the Lahaina Civic Center to hear about the County’s interim housing plan.

A new AARP Hawaiʻi/Smart Growth America report about the potential danger of losing affordable housing in Hawaiʻi has triggered a response from the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corp., which is responsible for increasing and preserving the supply of affordable housing statewide.

While a decrease was recorded in month-over-month data, Maui County vacation rental supply realized gains this January compared to January 2023.

Gov. Josh Green, M.D., has signed the fifth Emergency Proclamation relating to Affordable Housing. Developers must now produce 60% of their units at 140% of the area median income or less – instead of the previous 50%-plus requirement.

Although zoned for 2,137 residential units, the Ledcor Maui project proposes construction of a maximum of 975 residential homes, which includes the Wailea resort community’s first workforce housing units. The state mandated public comment period of 45 days ends on April 8, 2024.

A group rallying to help secondary victims of the August fires is asking Gov. Josh Green to extend protections for tenants facing evictions from landlords seeking more lucrative rental income tied to subsidized housing for wildfire survivors.

Hawaiʻi Information Service retired its 27-year-old REsearch MLS system, moving all REALTOR members to HIMLS with zero downtime.

A bill has been submitted to the Maui County Council that would pave the way for loan of up to $14 million from Maui County for the 212-unit Aikanaha low-income rental housing project in Waikapū.

The median sales price of a single-family home in Maui County spiked to $1,342,581 in January, the highest cost for island homeownership in at least a year, according to statistics reported monthly by the Realtors Association of Maui. Median condominium prices increased more, by percentage, up 20.9% to $795,000.

Catholic Charities Hawai‘i on Thursday dedicated a new multi-purpose building for residents at its Kahului Lani senior affordable housing complex on Maui. Organization leaders also unveiled their next project, Hale Pilina, a 178-unit affordable housing complex at the former site of the Maui Swap Meet on South Pu‘unēnē Ave.

ʻĀina Lani Pacific is seeking a Maui County grant of more than $4.9 million to help pay for steeply rising construction costs projected for the developer’s 28-home Kilohana Makai project in Kīhei.

Maui Academy of Performing Arts has started construction on its new black box theater in the former National Dollar Store building at 2027 Main Street in Wailuku. With plans to consolidate programming in the new facility, the Board of Directors made the decision to list MAPA’s other two commercial buildings across the street for sale with Commercial Properties of Maui.  

After several months of research on Maui housing projects, Stand Up Maui has developed a list of present and proposed affordable housing projects called the Scorecard, set for public release this month.

Homeowners could receive grants of up to $100,000 for construction of accessory dwellings, also known as ʻohana units, under a bill passed on second and final reading Friday by the Maui County Council. Bill 38 advances to Mayor Richard Bissen for final action.