A private development partnership backed by state financing kicked off construction Tuesday on a 117-unit rental apartment complex in Kihei reserved for seniors with low incomes.
The Liloa Hale project has been in the works since at least 2020, and after prior delays over financing is now scheduled for completion in March 2026.
Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who attended the ground- breaking ceremony, noted that many kupuna lost their homes in Lahaina in the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfire, and said in a statement that Liloa Hale will be an opportunity to regain a sense of community and age in a safe place.
Dean Minakami, executive director of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., a state agency that provided most of the financing for the $78 million project, said Liloa Hale is a product of veteran private homebuilders working alongside many government agencies.
California-based Highridge Costa partnered with local nonprofit development partner Hale Mahaolu, and the partnership obtained Maui County Council approval in 2020 for a package of zoning regulation and fee exemptions.
In 2022, HHFDC’s board approved about $54 million in financing through a combination of bonds, tax credits and a loan to help finance the three-story complex, which at the time was expected to start construction in early 2023 and open by the end of this year.
The developers returned to HHFDC seeking additional financing in 2023 and then again in June after project costs were driven higher by interest rates and inflation. Both times, the agency’s board approved the extra funding.
Apartments with one or two bedrooms in Liloa Hale are reserved for seniors age 55 and over who earn no more than 60% of the median income on Maui. In addition, 12 units are reserved for seniors earning no more than 50% of the median income, and another 12 unis are reserved for seniors earning no more than 30% of the median income.
Monthly rents range from $481 to $1,320 depending on unit size and tenant income. Community amenities are to include a picnic area, club house, laundry room and a landscaped outdoor plaza.
“Today is a day of celebration and a day of gratitude,” Grant Chun, executive director of Hale Mahaolu, said in a statement Tuesday. “Celebration because of course we’re embarking on an effort that’s going to bring 117 new homes to our Maui kupuna and gratitude because … it takes a village to build a village.”
Moe Mohanna, president of Highridge, said in a statement that everyone involved in producing Liloa Hale will be part of a “legacy for future generations of kamaaina to live with dignity in a place they can call home and a place that they know they can afford without any ongoing rental or operating subsidy.”
