Homes for Kohala

10/16/2024

So excited to announce that the Kohala Community Land Trust - a new solution to keep housing permanently in the hands of and affordable for Kohala residents - is officially a 501(c)(3). All full time Kohala residents over the age of 18 can be voting members, guiding the organization. Please join us on Tuesday October 22nd to learn more!

11/20/2023

“Over time, the 30-year fixed rate probably just erodes affordability,” said Skylar Olsen, chief economist for the real estate site Zillow.

Research suggests that the U.S. mortgage system has also heightened racial and economic inequality. Wealthier borrowers tend to be more financially sophisticated and, therefore, likelier to refinance when doing so saves them money — meaning that even if borrowers start out with the same interest rate, gaps emerge over time.

One big reason the U.S. housing market is broken: Owners don’t want to give up their cushy old loans.

07/18/2023

Yes to this!

Critics question the decision to suspend laws to streamline the approval process for development.

04/04/2023

Is anyone listening? Hooray for Sen Brian Schatz: "We are making it incredibly difficult to create housing, and then we sort of puzzle through what to do about it. And the solution is very simple, in fact. We need to make it legal to build housing of all kinds."

How Sen. Brian Schatz became a YIMBY—and how he thinks his party can see the light.

03/22/2023

We will also have the survey if you have not taken it yet!

Members of an agricultural community on Hawaiʻi Island will gather to discuss the future of sustainable farming and ranching. The Kohala Agricultural Visioning event will provide details on water-use, energy and land preservation.

03/03/2023

Tenant applications are now being accepted for the planned Waikoloa Family Affordable rental housing development on Hawaii Island, it was announced this week.

Managed by Locations LLC, Waikoloa Family Affordable is a 110-unit complex located at 68-3911 Makana Kai Drive in Waikoloa, according to a recent announcement. The complex will serve qualifying families with annual incomes of 30% and 60% or less of the area median income.
According to the announcement, each rental unit will have an air conditioning unit, a solar water heater, storage area and energy-efficient appliances, as well as one parking stall per unit. Limited additional parking stalls for two-bedroom units are also available for rent.

Available units include: six one-bedroom units at $405, 30% AMI; 33 one-bedroom units at $941 a month, 60% AMI; 40 two-bedroom flats at $1,058 per month, 60% AMI; and 31 two-bedroom townhomes at $1,108 per month, 60% AMI.

Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien, occupy their unit as their primary residence, pass a credit and criminal check, and provide landlord references, the announcement noted. An applicant's minimum monthly income must also be 2.5 times or more of the monthly rent.

Applications are due by March 31 and will evaluated on a first come, first serve basis.

To request an application, email Locations at [email protected] or call (808) 738-3119.

Chosen applicants are tentatively expected to move in this spring.

02/28/2023

How many Kohala residents would like a project like this here?

Future capital gains would be locked into local income levels as part of the plan.

01/25/2023

Funding to get those homes built!

The grant funds will allow HCL to launch the 3-year Native Hawaiian Owner-Builder Project on Moloka‘i. The project will serve 58 Nāʻiwa lessee families and five Native Hawaiian builders to increase their capacity to build and own homes on Hawaiian Home Lands.

01/24/2023

One of the stated objectives of regulated hosted short term rentals is to make it easier to create long term housing. Here is the latest update on the proposals.

In November 2022, two members of the Hawaiʻi County Council presented a draft bill to the public for comment (here is a link to my report on that initial

01/17/2023

A good read on the history of zoning and how it still works to prevent easy construction of housing people can afford.

If the consequences of zoning today are higher housing costs, lower growth and economic dislocation, it begs the question of why are we still doing this.