Council OKs two more years for Kuʻikahi Village housing project

The Maui County Council has approved a resolution for a time extension — to May 2029 — for completion of the Kuʻikahi Village project, now apparently scaled back from its original plans.

According to information presented to council members, the project was originally designed as a 202-unit workforce housing development mauka of Honoapiʻilani Highway and makai of Wailuku Heights. That initial project plan has been rendered economically infeasible because of rising construction costs and other factors. Planned housing units had included for-sale, multifamily, duplex, townhome, live-work, studio and single-family for below-moderate to above-moderate income households.

The Kuʻikahi project was among five affordable housing developments for which the new Department of Housing was unable to spend about $12 million. That unspent funding (including $6 million for Kuʻikahi) returned to the Affordable Housing Fund.

According to a revised resolution for the time extension: Since the project’s initial conceptual design in November of 2019 and the present date, “there have been supply chain disruptions, material cost increases, labor shortages, wage increases, runaway inflation, and contractor price jumps. These outside events increased the project’s costs by over 20% from its original projections.”

During last week’s April 17 regular Council meeting, Council Member Tasha Kama, chair of the Housing and Land Use Committee, said the two-year time extension for Kuikahi Properties LLC stems from the “challenge of creating affordable housing.”

Affordable housing developers “come to us for help based on their best plans and economic assumptions,” Kama said. “The world we are now in is one that is dramatically different than the one that existed in 2022 when this project was approved by the Council. These dramatic changes included increases in both interest rates and construction costs. The project proponent has tried to adjust the project to make it pencil (out) in this dramatically different world. All this effort has certainly delayed the project timeline, and the proponent is now asking for an extension to its deadlines to match the new reality of this economic climate.”

Now, the deadline for the project to start construction is May 11, 2027, and its deadline for completion is May 11, 2029, she said.

In other action last week, council members passed:

Bill 3 (2025) on second and final reading to ratify County Ordinance 5702 (2024) amending the Lānaʻi Community Plan for 268.35 acres by adding acreage, removing existing acreage, and adjusting the specific land uses within the plan.

Bill 51 on first reading to add $99,671 to an earlier appropriation of $100,000 to complete Phase 1 for three security gates on Holomua Road. The additional funding is to ensure completion of the design, permitting and other necessary project preparations, according to an April 9 letter to council members from Budget Director Lesley Milner. Last year, the Council passed an ordinance to restrict access to Holomua Road because of post-Lahaina wildfire fears and the threat of fire to Pāʻia town.

Bill 33 on second and final reading to set aside $650,000 from the Affordable Housing Fund as a grant to A0746 Lahaina L.P. for pre-development costs for a project in Nāpili. The 120-unit Kaiaulu o Nāpili affordable housing project is for rental units on nearly 15 acres of County-owned land in Nāpili. Eligible renters would be Maui County residents earning up to 60% of the area median income.

Bill 28 on second and final reading to allow additional flood-prone areas to be included in special flood hazard areas for flood insurance purposes. The measure addresses a federal flood insurance program that provides communities with subsidized flood insurance premiums, federal disaster money in times of a federal disaster declaration, disaster loans and federal mortgage insurance for buildings in special flood hazard areas.

Bill 19 on second and final reading to authorize the mayor to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the US Geological Survey for the first phase of a three-phase groundwater availability study in West Maui where future water demand is expected to increase.

Bill 16 on second and final reading to authorize payment of $28,062 to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relation’s Hawaiʻi Occupational Safety and Health Division for violations of safety and health standards at the Kīhei Wastewater Reclamation Facility.

For the rest of this month, council members continue with fiscal 2026 budget deliberations. The next full Council meeting is May 2. The Council’s calendar is here.