A plan to build 84 affordable rental homes for low-income seniors on one of central Wailuku’s most historically significant properties is now open for public comment through June 8.

The Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corp. filed a draft environmental assessment last week for the Wailuku Mission Senior Affordable Housing project, located at 2307 Main St. on the 2.66-acre Mission Grounds site owned by Wailuku Union Church. EAH Housing, a nonprofit that manages more than 240 affordable properties in California and Hawaii, would develop the project.

Project plans

Three new two-story residential buildings would provide a mix of studio and one-bedroom units for seniors age 62 and older who earn 60% or less of the area median income. The corporation’s guidelines set maximum affordable rents at $1,414 for a studio and $1,515 for a one-bedroom — less than half the $3,014 median monthly rent recorded in Wailuku in 2024, according to the draft environmental assessment.

The project also includes one resident manager unit, 42 off-street parking stalls in two lots accessible from Main Street, community gardens with raised garden beds, ADA-accessible pathways, a fenced dog run, and resident seating areas. The buildings will be designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building certification standards and target at least a 30% reduction in energy use by incorporating solar thermal water heating, LED lighting and high-efficiency plumbing.

EAH Housing plans to station a full-time resident services coordinator on site through its StayWell! program, connecting residents with benefits assistance, healthcare access, and services designed to reduce social isolation and support aging in place.

The estimated construction cost is approximately $64 million. Groundbreaking is anticipated in 2028, with completion expected in 2030.

Historic district

The project sits squarely within Maui County’s Historic District No. 3, the last remaining intact historic district in the county, established by ordinance in 1970 to preserve structures “closely identified with the early history of Maui County.”

Two buildings on the site are listed on the Hawaiʻi State Register of Historic Places and have been submitted for listing on the National Register: the Alexander House, which dates to 1836 and is among the oldest structures in Wailuku, and the Baybrook House. Both structures are identified on the 1969 Wailuku Historic District Map.

Rather than demolishing them, EAH Housing proposes to rehabilitate both under the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and put them to active use — the Alexander House as a multipurpose community center, the Baybrook House as the on-site management office. The firm is working with historic preservation architect MASON Architects on the rehabilitation project.

Two other existing structures would come down to make room for the new residential buildings. The ‘Īao House, built in 1963, was found ineligible for historic listing. The Kennan House, built in 1928, was identified as a contributing element to Historic District No. 3 but was found individually ineligible for listing due to its deteriorated condition. The EA notes it is currently vacant and unsafe, and that any restoration would be “extremely costly and time-consuming.”

Historic significance

The Mission Grounds’ history stretches back to the early missionary era. The environmental assessment draws on information provided by the Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation during pre-assessment consultation. It notes that the site was established through a Royal Patent grant to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, with ties to the Hawaiian Evangelical Association of Congregational Christian Churches. Wailuku Union Church assumed direct ownership of the property in 1957.

The Alexander House, along with Kaʻahumanu Church (1876) and the Bailey House complex, is among the structures that define the district’s historic character. The historic structures are tied to Protestant missionaries who arrived from New England in 1820 and established an official mission station in Wailuku as early as 1832. Also within the district is the Kama ʻAuwai, a Hawaiian irrigation system that predates the mission era.

Housing need

The environmental assessment argues that the Mission Grounds, in the heart of Wailuku, is a well-suited location for seniors who can no longer drive. The site is within walking distance of Maui Memorial Medical Center, the Wailuku Public Library, social service agencies, county offices and Maui Bus stops. The assessment calculates that a senior household earning $30,000 annually and living at the project site could achieve annual transportation cost savings of $9,500 to $10,500 compared to car-dependent locations. Combining housing and ground transportation savings, a resident could see a cost burden reduction from 70-80% to 32% at the project site, the assessment says.

The 2024 Hawaiʻi Housing Planning Study identified a need for 14,987 total housing units in Maui County through 2027, with more than 70% of needed multifamily rentals required to serve households at 60% area median income or below. Maui’s housing stock has declined over the past five years while demand has intensified — only 17 multifamily permits were issued countywide in all of 2024, according to the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization. Hawaiʻi also has the fastest-aging population in the country; the environmental assessment projects that residents 60 and older will grow from 28% of Maui County’s population in 2025 to more than 30% as total county population surpasses 200,000.

Community response

Pre-assessment consultation drew strong support alongside pointed preservation concerns.

According to the environmental assessment, the most frequently cited reason for support was the “urgent need for senior affordable housing in central Wailuku.”

The Wailuku Community Association emphasized that “there is a critical shortage of senior housing in our area, and this project directly addresses that need.”

Project reviewers also commented on its location near civic offices, medical services, public amenities, and the Wailuku Public Library, making it particularly suitable for seniors seeking walkable access to essential services

Community member and business owner Kristin Holmes described the Alexander House and Baybrook House as “architectural treasures” and “cultural touchstones that help tell the story of Wailuku’s past,” calling the preservation approach “a meaningful approach that reflects a true understanding of place.”

Preservation advocates, however, raised concerns during the pre-assessment process about converting Historic District No. 3’s open, park-like setting into private residential space, the potential disruption of sight lines and historical context, and the scale of new construction in a district characterized by modest missionary-era structures.

Preservation advocates emphasized that multifamily housing is not a by-right use in Historic District No. 3 and called for rigorous review by the Maui County Cultural Resources Commission.

The environmental assessment maintains that the new buildings — set back roughly 60 feet from the historic structures, capped at approximately 28 feet in height, and oriented to preserve views of the Alexander and Baybrook houses from Main Street and Aupuni Street — comply with applicable county code requirements.

Next steps

The project requires approval from the Maui County Council under a state law that expedites approval of affordable housing projects. In addition to the Maui County Cultural Resources Commission review and other county permits, the State Historic Preservation Division will also scrutinize the project.

Written comments on the Draft EA are due by June 8. Comments should be sent to the state agency’s Dean Watase at dbedt.hhfdc.environmental@hawaii.gov, with copies to EAH Housing’s Marian Gushiken at marian.gushiken@eahhousing.org and PBR Hawaiʻi’s Bradley Furuya at bfuruya@pbrhawaii.com.