Maui County Council approves $1-a-year lease for new Lānaʻi Youth Center

The Maui County Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing a nominal-rent lease, allowing the Lānaʻi Youth Center to move into its newly built facility on county-owned property and clearing the way for the nonprofit to open before the start of the school year.

Resolution 26-115 grants the Lānaʻi Youth Center a 10-year lease, with the option for one additional 10-year term, on a parcel at 139 Fifth St. in Lānaʻi City. The lease sets rent at $1 per year — well below the property’s fair market rental value of $146,147.70 annually, as determined by the county Department of Finance — a difference that under county law qualifies the arrangement as a grant of public property requiring Council approval.

The leased site covers a nearly 6,000-square-foot building and 46,498 square feet of land. The lease term runs through June 30, 2036.

A decade in the making

Nancy Rajaei, the youth center’s executive director, told council members the approval represented the culmination of more than 10 years of work by the organization’s board, staff and community partners.

“There were moments when it felt so far away,” Rajaei said, “but we never gave up, because we knew what this facility would mean for our youth, our families and our community. Today is the culmination of years of collaboration, perseverance, and a shared commitment to our keiki.”

Rajaei said the youth center has served Lānaʻi’s young people for nearly 30 years, offering homework help, meals, mentorship and leadership opportunities to youth after school. She thanked Lānaʻi Council Member Gabe Johnson for his steadfast support and for visiting with youth center members, and she thanked Department of Parks and Recreation grant coordinator Hōkū Hobbs and the department staff for their work on the lease application.

Johnson asked whether the lease should be approved on the Council floor Monday, Rajaei said Lānaʻi’s public schools return from summer break Aug. 7, and the youth center’s after-school program is already running out of its current facility.

That current facility — two classroom-sized modular units at 717 Fraser Avenue in Lānaʻi City — has housed the organization under a month-to-month license with the county since July 1, 1995. According to a transmittal letter from the Department of Parks and Recreation, the new facility is expected to be move-in ready by Aug. 1, ahead of the 2027 school year.

Youth and community testimony

Lānaʻi residents testified in support of the resolution, including Kerri Glickstein, a youth center board member and parent of two children who use its programs.

“The building looks beautiful,” Glickstein said, recounting that her children came home the day before the hearing saying the youth center would be getting keys to the new building soon. “The thrill of their voices that they’ve seen this building . . . from groundbreaking until now. They get to be part of the first group of kids to be members in this new building.”

Maya Glickstein, an 8-year-old member of the youth center, told the Council she was most excited about the new music room. “When I grow up, I want to be a singer,” she said. “So I want to use that room to practice playing piano and singing.”

Alejandro Angel, who described himself as both a youth and a community member, said he credited its staff with shaping the young man he is today. He urged the council to approve the lease “not just for me, but for the kids” who will benefit in the future.

He echoed a comment made earlier by Rajaei: the youth center is “more than just a building. It is a place where young people build friendships, develop leadership skills, receive mentorship and create lasting memories.”

Johnson moved to approve the resolution for the lease agreement, stressing that the matter is time sensitive because the facility needs to be ready Aug. 1 before the new school year begins.

“It’s a beautiful facility,” he said. “And, boy, it’s been just taking so long, and now, I mean, we’re so close. I can’t wait till those kids get in there.”

Johnson praised the youth center’s programs, saying that it provides “consistent support, connection, culture and care all year long for school-age children 8 to 18, at a time when the need has never been greater.”

Council Member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez expressed her strong support as well. “I hope to get this going as quickly as possible.”

Program details

According to materials the youth center submitted with its lease application, the organization currently serves about 220 youth annually and is targeting a population of roughly 410 young people ages 8 to 17 — 18 if still enrolled in high school — at the new site. The center operates on a drop-in basis and provides its services free of charge, funded primarily through the county along with grants from organizations including the Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation, the Atherton Family Foundation and the Lānaʻi Community Benefit Fund.

The new facility will also serve as an emergency shelter site during disasters and emergencies, and it will be made available on a space-available basis for county Department of Parks and Recreation programs, under terms of the lease.

The department had requested the Council consider the $1 annual rent given the youth center’s role in advocating for county funding and support and in helping design the new building.