The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands held a groundbreaking ceremony last week to mark the beginning of construction on Increment II-C of its Ka‘uluokaha‘i housing development in Ewa.
The project will result in 127 single-family homes on a nearly 24-acre section of the 404-acre, multiphase Ka‘uluokaha‘i development.
“This dedication ceremony is not just about roads, pipes and structures; it is about creating pathways for dreams, building homes for families and fortifying the foundation of our community,” said Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair Kali Watson in a news release. “It is also about transforming what once was an idea and vision into a reality. A place where the roots of our beautiful culture can grow deeper and our people can prosper.”
Ka‘uluokaha‘i is located mauka of the Ewa Villages Golf Course and east of Kualakai Parkway. The project is slated to eventually contain 1,000 single-family house lots, according to DHHL.
The current phase of construction will establish the infrastructure for Increment II-C at a cost of about $29 million. Approximately $6.3 million of those funds were provided by the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust, while the remaining amount was appropriated by the Legislature.
Plans for Ka‘uluokaha‘i development also call for 300 multifamily units, Watson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
“We’ll probably be looking at doing some kupuna housing there, some transitional housing as well as maybe even multiunit townhouses or homesteading,” he said. “There’s a lot of individuals that are kupuna that don’t need a three-, four-bedroom home, so I think a townhouse might be more adequate.”
A separate mixed-use section will comprise residential and commercial units, he said, and there are plans to include a multiservice center for a DHHL satellite office and space for other organizations and resources.
There are currently about 29,000 beneficiaries on DHHL’s homestead waitlist. Existing homestead communities in Ewa include Nanakuli, Maluohai, Kaupea and Kanehili. Together they house nearly 2,000 residents, according to a 2022 DHHL report.
The infrastructure for Increment II-C will be completed by Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. Construction should be completed in January 2025, according to the DHHL news release, with families expected to be able to move in later that year.
Work on the new section of Ka‘uluokaha‘i received the wholehearted approval of state lawmakers representing the Kapolei district. State Sen. Mike Gabbard (D, Kapolei-Makakilo-Kalaeloa), who attended Monday’s groundbreaking, said the ceremony prompted him to reflect on how much the West Oahu community has grown over the recent decades.
“It was kind of a chicken-skin moment,” Gabbard said. “The different homesteads in Kapolei are a critically important piece of our second city community, and today’s blessing is hopefully the beginning of an accelerated attempt to truly help our Native Hawaiians get back to the aina.”
State Rep. Diamond Garcia (R, Ewa-Kapolei), who also attended the groundbreaking, said he is looking forward to welcoming more Native Hawaiians into the Kapolei community as opportunities and resources in the area continue to increase.
“These new homesteads are being built right on the rail line,” Garcia said. “And then, of course, with the growing shopping centers and malls, there are lots of jobs that are going to be opening up in West Oahu as well.”
Aside from Ka‘uluokaha‘i, Watson said there are many other projects underway for Native Hawaiian beneficiaries, whether they are looking to transition out of an overcrowded household or to move back to Hawaii from the mainland.
“Whether you become a homesteader or you become a tenant in a transitional housing project, there will definitely be opportunities in the coming year,” Watson said.
Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
