DHHL awards nearly 100 turnkey homes in Waikapū as part of Puʻuhonua Phase II

The Department of Hawaiian Homes Lands (DHHL) awarded a total of 91 turnkey homes as part of Puʻuhona Phase II on Saturday during a ceremony at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College.

DHHL’s Puʻuhona project is the department’s first turnkey residential homestead community on Maui in 17 years and its first Act 279 project. The approximately 47-acre parcel in Waikapū will consist of 161 single-family lots: 137 turnkey homes and 24 vacant improved lots.

The department acquired the roughly 47-acre Waikapū parcel through a land transfer with the Dowling Company, Inc., in exchange for affordable housing credits from the County of Maui.

Puʻuhona is the name of the first of four puʻu, or hills, that travel up to Hanaʻula, Waikapū’s highest peak. Named in likely reference to the native tree, hona was highly valued for the fibers found in its inner bark, which were used to craft rope and cordage for fishnets. The creation and intertwining of these materials represent the unity and growth of a community as individual strands come together to form a stronger bond.