Lahaina housing: Former tenants eager to return, daunted by four-year wait

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Lahaina wildfire survivors view conceptual plans Wednesday evening for Hale Mahaolu’s redevelopment plans of the Front Street Apartments. PC: Brian Perry

Former residents of the Lahaina Surf and Front Street Apartments — destroyed in the August 2023 wildfires — cheered when they were reassured that both affordable housing complexes would be rebuilt and that they, as residents at the time of the fires, would be given priority to return to redeveloped homes.

Then they heard Hale Mahaolu’s project timeline: public engagement launched Wednesday evening at the Lahainaluna High School; permit applications in December of this year; construction starting sometime in 2026; and completion around June of 2029.

The four-year wait brought a few moments of silence.

Hale Mahaolu Executive Director Anders Lyons told at least 120 people that he knows that sounds like a long time, “but believe me that’s as accelerated as we can get.”

Meanwhile time is running out for wildfire survivors. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s temporary housing assistance ends Feb. 10, 2026. Losing housing assistance then would put many survivors, economically speaking, “between the devil and the deep blue sea”: making too much money for assistance from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, but not enough for market-priced rental housing.

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One wildfire survivor, who asked to remain anonymous, said she can’t afford rent when it goes up to more than $3,100 per month.

“I feel there is no urgency for us victims to have a permanent and affordable home,” she said. “We are grateful for FEMA and (the) Red Cross who have helped us a lot. But our local government lacks support. It’s their responsibility to provide housing for our community. We are working at hotels and in the tourist industry to help our local economy, but we don’t have homes.”

She is a single parent with two children, working as a front desk attendant. She said she’s exhausted from working and fearful about losing housing. Some residents at Wednesday night’s meeting said they have taken on multiple jobs to make ends meet.

The young woman has had trouble sleeping, “especially when we were still (staying) at the hotel. Thankfully, FEMA was able to move us to an apartment, but it’s still stressful. It’s hard to heal because we don’t know what’s going to happen or where we are going to live after here. There are very little to no options.”

According to Aloha United Way, 53% of families in Maui County in 2024 were either in poverty or ALICE households, which means Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed; or, more simply, families can’t make ends meet. ALICE households in Maui County climbed 9 percentage points since 2022, the numbers worsened by the wildfires in 2023.

A chart from Aloha United Way shows 53% of households in Maui County (the highest in the state) are either in poverty or having trouble making ends meet. PC: Screen grab from updated Aloha United Way ALICE report.
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The young woman said she hopes HUD guidelines for housing assistance will be adjusted in recognition that households need to have higher household incomes to survive in Hawaiʻi with its high cost of living. People here earn more, on average, that Mainland residents because they need to pay more for groceries, gas, bills and other necessities, she said.

Lyons said Hale Mahaolu is moving ahead as fast as possible and would begin the process of getting tenants back into units about three to six months before project completion.

Both Lahaina Surf and Front Street Apartments projects are in the special management area and Lahaina historic district, and they’re covered by Gov. Josh Green’s emergency proclamation, he said. So, Hale Mahaolu is consulting with the Maui County Department of Planning to see how it could get an expedited SMA review.

Lyons said he understands they are efforts underway at the Legislature to codify the governor’s emergency declaration to make it state law, rather than a temporary declaration.

According to the State Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, an SMA permit is the first permit required for developments within designated coastal areas. No agency is authorized to issue other development permits within SMA areas unless approval is first received within SMA procedures provided in state law.

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The redevelopment projects aim to build on the same footprints of the Lahaina Surf and Front Street Apartments. Lyons said the Lahaina Surf would remain at its previous capacity of 112 units, while Hale Mahaolu is working to increase the number of units at the Front Street Apartments from 142 to 193 units.

“There’s actually some in the state who are encouraging us to get to a higher level than that,” he said. “We’re just going to have to see if we can make that happen.”

Lyons said he doesn’t have project cost estimates yet, which will be available after pre-construction planning is completed.

As far as whether Hale Mahaolu’s projects would be eligible for a portion of the $1.64 billion disaster relief funding for Maui County, Lyons said he understands the projects need to be compliant with the Federal Emergency Management Public Assistance Program.

“So we’re making sure that we have bi-weekly meetings with FEMA, so we’re in close contact with them,” he said. “As long as we are qualified under FEMA, then we are also qualified for disaster relief.”

Wednesday evening’s meeting was the first opportunity for residents to give feedback on project conceptual plans. Many former residents huddled around boards showing project layouts set up on easels. Representatives of Hale Mahaolu were on hand to answer questions.

During the open house’s question-and-answer session, most of the questions were about resident eligibility and whether, for example, HUD housing vouchers could be used. Or, how could residents’ prove they had been residents if their documentation was lost in the fire.

Many of such details still need to be worked out and finalized, but Lyons said information will be publicly available before applications open for residency.

“We’re trying to support the former residents,” he said. “To the best of our ability, we’re going to prioritize if you were there before.”

The agency also is working to keep rents affordable for residents, he said.

One man worried that changes to his financial situation might render him ineligible as a resident when the time comes for tenants to occupy the redeveloped homes.

“It doesn’t seem right to move me out,” he said. “I didn’t move out. I got burned out.”

Longtime Lahaina resident Anna Barbeau, who lost her home in the wildfire, said she felt “more confident” after Wednesday evening’s meeting, with Hale Mahaolu leading redevelopment efforts.

Lyons managed a “very successful presentation and was very forthcoming,” she said. “I’m grateful for his honesty in answering questions.”

West Maui Rep. Elle Cochran said lawmakers at this year’s legislative session are working on ways to expedite rebuilding for Lahaina fire survivors. Waiting another four years for permanent housing is “way too long,” she said, adding that she’s in full support of legislation to reduce special management area permit restrictions to clear the way for reconstruction in Lahaina.

A rendering with an overhead perspective shows how the Front Street Apartments (top left) and Lahaina Surf redevelopment projects abut each other. PC: Brian Perry

Cochran, along with five other House members, has introduced House Bill 1503, which would exclude from the definition of “development” in state law for purposes of Coastal Zone Management restrictions (special management area permits) the reconstruction, under certain circumstances, of structures destroyed in the Aug. 8, 2023, Lahaina wildfire.

Under the bill, reconstruction would need to begin before Aug. 8, 2028. And the rebuilding project can be no larger than what existed before the fires.

Another bill, Senate Bill 1296, introduced by West and South Maui Sen. Angus McKelvey, is similar in waiving SMA permit requirements and would apply to reconstruction in the Lahaina historic district to properties that do not abut the ocean. The Senate bill also requires projects to be no larger than the footprint of structures destroyed in the disaster.

Many of the residents attending the open house told stories of losing everything in the fire, then moving three, four, six times — from friends’ sofas, to the War Memorial shelter, hotel rooms and vacation rentals. It’s been a harrowing time, living in fear of losing federal and insurance money for housing and being uncertain and unstable with their housing.

As former tenants of Lahaina Surf and Front Street Apartments, they were renters or lessees. So they can’t seek building permits to rebuild.

Hale Mahaolu is collaborating with Design Partners Inc. and Munekiyo and Hiraga to complete both projects.

Hale Mahaolu Executive Director Anders Lyons reassured Lahaina residents that the Front Street Apartments and Lahaina Surf were going to be rebuilt and that residents who lost their homes in the August 2023 wildfires would be given priority to return. PC: Brian Perry

For more information, contact Hale Mahaolu at 808-872-4100.

Brian Perry
Brian Perry worked as a staff writer and editor at The Maui News from 1990 to 2018. Before that, he was a reporter at the Pacific Daily News in Agana, Guam. From 2019 to 2022, he was director of communications in the Office of the Mayor.
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