Maui’s first Kauhale reaches full capacity in Kahului; project viewed as possible template for future affordable housing

Seven months into operations, Kīpūola Kauhale, Maui’s first kauhale project in Kahului, reached full capacity in June, using what developer HomeAid Hawaiʻi describes as a “deeply affordable” model that relies on value engineering, emergency proclamations and public-private partnerships to cut construction costs. Housing applications started in December.

After receiving an update on the project on Monday, members of the Maui County Council’s Water Authority, Social Services, and Parks Committee began looking at it not as a single project, but as a template for affordable housing on Maui, including the ‘Ohana Hope Village project and possible development of homes on county land near the South Maui police station.

HomeAid Hawaiʻi Chief Executive Officer Kimo Carvalho told committee members that the 64-unit Kīpūola Kauhale—a modular-home, row house project located across from the Kahului Airport at the corner of Mayor Elmer Cravalho Way and Hāna Highway—is targeted for residents earning 30% to 50% of the area median income.

Housing specifically for that income segment is often not developed “because developers cannot pencil the projects,” Carvalho said, meaning the project’s costs and benefits, including construction, permitting and expected profit margin don’t make it financially feasible because such projects don’t generate enough revenue.

“We’re able to actually bring down the cost of development and that cost is passed on to the end consumer in the form of deeply affordable rents,” he said. “So we’re talking anywhere from $200 to maybe $500 a month on rent. So that’s truly where we’re really trying to break cycles of poverty, not just through just the development and the financial design of the communities.”

As an example, Carvalho pointed to a development on Oʻahu, which as a traditional housing project would have cost taxpayers $22 million, that was reduced to a cost of $7.7 million. That happened because HomeAid, a nonprofit developer, used a combination emergency proclamations, donations and other tools.

“So, in this case, we save 65% of the total cost of development by creating these row homes and these community spaces,” Carvalho explained. “It really takes both the public-private sector coming together and, as HomeAid, we’re the conduit for that solution.”

Land for the Maui project came from the state Department of Transportation, he said, and it was leased by the state Department of Human Services.

Upward mobility and breaking cycle of poverty

“The goal here for Kīpūola is upward mobility,” Carvalho said. “We want to ensure that they’re able to save money, earn more, save more. So traditional public housing is 30% of your income toward rent. So the more you earn, the more you pay. That is a disincentive.”

The approach for Kīpūola is different. “We do fixed (rental) rates so that it’s the more they earn, the more they save. The more they save, then they start mobilizing. What we’ve seen at other villages across the state is that they usually break poverty right around year three if they stay that long, which shows the traditional housing for two years is actually not sufficient. Usually, they’re just kind of out of crisis in year 2, 2 and 1/2, but year 3, we’re really seeing mobility.”

Modular homes and infrastructure costs

The 100-square-foot modular tiny homes were assembled and deployed within five months. The individual units feature electric power, built-in desks, storage and air conditioning, but intentionally lack private kitchens, bathrooms or plumbing laterals.

Instead, the village is structured into four 16-unit clusters centered around communal pavilions, shared kitchens, laundry facilities and heavy-duty modular restrooms and showers that cost roughly $35,000 per facility.

“Infrastructure is one of our largest costs,” Carvalho said, explaining that using a single utility connection for shared amenities rather than stubbing out plumbing to every individual unit drastically cuts expenses while building social capital among residents. “Housing is healthcare and that social determinants of health by connecting with other humans and building that social connection is really what we’re seeing is transforming people’s ability to thrive quicker.”

High demand

Demand for the village has been high. Since beginning to accept requests for housing, HomeAid Hawaiʻi logged 538 total applications, including 175 verified homeless individuals and 264 people deemed at risk of homelessness. Single men account for roughly 80% of applicants. Carvalho cited poverty, job loss and low wages as the primary drivers of homelessness among applicants.

To maintain stability, the facility operates under program agreements rather than standard leases, avoiding immediate evictions for unpaid fees or behavioral infractions.

“We don’t just jump to eviction the way traditional property managers do. We instead… say, look, what’s going on? What can we do to keep you here? Let’s put you on what’s called a curable exit policy or a human contract,” Carvalho said, noting that over 80% of residents on such contracts resolve their issues and remain housed because they have a second chance to resolve their conflicts and issues.

“So, we’re really trying,” he said. “It’s not just innovative, alternative housing. It’s also innovative, alternative property management” that’s needed for deeply affordable housing, he said. “It’s a system strategy that’s been missing for quite a while because our community has favored single-family homes and commercial developments and nothing in the middle.”

Project response

“Kīpūola Kauhale is an incredible opportunity for people to have a space that they can call their own,” said Department of ʻŌiwi Resources Deputy Director Kekai Robinson who also raised a concern regarding the “industrial look, the industrialness of it.”

The state has expressed its commitment to having people build a “pilina,” or a connection or sense of belonging in a place they are living, Robinson said.

“So we would want to broaden that to the larger ʻāina and find ways to create a cultural curriculum for them to build that pilina with the ʻāina that they’re in,” she said. “You know Puʻunēnē is a beautiful moʻolelo of that space. There are wind names and place names that can help them build pilina with a larger part of Maui.”

“Connectivity to land, to water, to traditional foods and maybe opportunity to do that in those spaces really speaks to… a space of peace and tranquility and a kauhale,” Robinson said.

HomeAid Hawaiʻi also operates Ka Laʻi Ola in Lahaina, a 450-home village constructed for wildfire survivors who were ineligible for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Council Member Shane Sinenci chaired the committee meeting and deferred the matter without legislative action. Representatives from the Office of the Mayor, the Department of Housing and the Department of Parks and Recreation were also present for the update.

Update on Kona Low damage to Maui County parks

In other committee action, council members heard a report from Department of Public Works Deputy Director Shane Dudoit on Kona Low storm damages to Maui County parks facilities.

The Kula Gym remains closed after sustaining severe damage, he said, and the County is working with FEMA and Tetra Tech on damage inventories, which were due earlier in July.

“The structural framing throughout the impacted areas have been compromised,” he said. “The south-facing wall is structurally compromised and requires bracing, sheeting, (and) structural reinforcement to support the eventual rebuild of the end truss where and when feasible.”

Only one contractor submitted a bid for $1.9 million to try and tarp the open area at the gym, Dudoit said.

Other storm-impacted areas include Kepaniwai Heritage Park, which “took its lickings,” he said.

The park was reopened June 6, but a couple of pavilions were blocked off because of storm damage, but people still try to use them anyway, he said. “So, we are working on a solution to board it up so no one will be at risk.”

Pine tree removal at the park alone will cost about $17,000, and overall pavilion repairs are estimated to cost from $5 million to $6 million, he said.

Dudoit also noted damage to the Waiehu Municipal Golf Course, Kanahā Beach Park, the Ukumehame Gun Range and Kamaʻole Beach Parks I and II. So far, all damage repairs, including tree removals and structural stabilization, have been done in-house by the department without reimbursements from the state or federal governments, he said.

FEMA initially excluded municipal parks from its disaster declaration categories. While the County successfully reclassified structures like Kula Gym as general buildings to qualify for federal aid, an appeal submitted by the state to cover broader parklands remains under review by federal officials.

Compounding concerns for county officials is the threat of incoming tropical weather systems, which could inflict further damage on already damaged park facilities. While initial reimbursements for emergency protective measures are anticipated within six to nine months, long-term reconstruction timelines for major assets like Kula Gym remain uncertain.

In the meantime, County departments are coordinating with the Maui Emergency Management Agency to secure damaged sites, clear leftover debris, and prepare emergency generators across all park districts.