Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 1, 1 January 2021 — DHHL Expands Hawai'i Island Options [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DHHL Expands Hawai'i Island Options

J 'O KANŪHOU ĀINA V HO'OPULAPULA '

By Cedric Duarte Anew year will mean new opportunities for waiting list applicants on Hawai'i Island. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands recently broke ground on the construction of 60 homes within the Villages of La'i 'Ōpua in Kealakehe, Hawai'i Island, for its second Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase project. In 2001, DHHL partnered with Mark Development to develop and manage DHHL's first Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase project in Kapolei, O'ahu. The Ho'olimalima Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase pilot project was groundbreaking for its unique use of federal and state low ineome housing tax credits. The initiative allowed 70 beneficiaries to pay an affordable monthly rent for a single-family home, then assume a 99-year homestead lease at the end of the required 15-year rental period. DHHL's Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase product targets qualifying families who earn up to 30 percent, 40 percent, and 60 percent of the area median ineome. This program differs from a rent-to-own product, where rent will not contribute to the purchase of the home. Instead, the tenant's Area Median ineome (AMI) level at the initial qualification to occupy the units will be the same AMI level used in determining the sale price at the end of the 15 years.

The first 60 homes, a portion of the greater 1 18-unit La'i 'Ōpua Village 4 - 'Ākau, are anticipated to be offered to beneficiaries in mid-2021. An additional 103 Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase units will be built subsequently to eomplete La'i 'Ōpua Village 4 - 'Ākau and the current La'i 'Ōpua Village 5. Producing a Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase program requires public and private partnerships to successfully deploy financing tools and tax credits. La'i 'Ōpua will use, in part, federal and state low-ineome housing tax credit equity secured by Hunt Capital Partners, in collaboration with Ikaika 'Ohana and Urban Housing Communities. Coastal Construction Co. is acting as the project's general contractor with architectural firm Design Partner, ine. ThirtyOne50 Management will function as the rental property manager. The project will provide affordable single-family rental homes for DHHL undivided interest lessees and waiting list applicants who may convert their rental into a 99-year homestead lease after 15 years. In addition to kicking off the new year with the Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase product, DHHL will soon be breaking ground on Hawai'i Island for its new subsistence agricultural pilot projects in Honomū and Pana'ewa. ■ Cedric R. Duarte is the Information & Community Relations Officer for the Department ofHawaiian Home Lands. He has worked in communications and marketing since 1 999 and is a longtime event organizer. A product ofthe Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa , he resides in 'Aiea with his wife and two daughters.

hawaiian home lands HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION • DEPARTMDNTOF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS