The proposed Hale Mahaolu Ke Kahua 120-unit, 100-percent affordable rental project would sit on 11.5 acres of mostly vacant land owned by Maui Economic Opportunity, makai of Kahekili Highway in Waiehu. MUNEKIYO HIRAGA image

With multiple projects on Oahu and Liloa Hale senior rental housing project under way in South Maui, California-based affordable housing developer Highridge Costa Companies is proposing a 100-percent affordable rental project with 120 units in Waiehu.

The $33.5 million project, called Hale Mahaolu Ke Kahua Affordable Housing Community, would be developed with Hale Mahaolu and units would be rented to adults of all ages who earn 60 percent or less of the area median income.

Located makai of Kahekili Highway and west of Waiehu Heights, the project is planned for about 11.5 acres of mostly vacant land owned by Maui Economic Opportunity, according to the project’s draft environmental assessment published last week in the state Office of Environmental Quality Control’s “The Environmental Notice.”

Hale Mahaolu Ke Kahua would hold 120 multifamily residential units in 13 two-story buildings (28 one-bedroom units, 60 two-bedroom units and 32 three-bedroom units), along with a roughly 3,500-square-foot nonprofit building and an approximately 3,000-square-foot clubhouse. A total of 264 parking stalls and two loading stalls would be included.

Also, the proposal would install infrastructure along Kahekili Highway and Waiehu Beach Road, which are state and county right-of-ways, respectively. Three driveway entrances off Kahekili Highway would offer access to the project site. Hawaii law requires that an environmental assessment be done if state and county lands are used.

Highridge Costa is seeking the county’s fast-track approval process, which would give the development exceptions to certain rules as an affordable project. MEO and the applicant plan to enter a long-term lease to develop the project. With Maui County Council and other approvals, construction could be done in 16 months, the report said.

Hale Mahaolu Ke Kahua’s project site is 11.5 acres and is bounded by the intersection of Kahekili Highway and Waiehu Beach Road to the north, Kahekili Highway to the west, the Waiehu Heights single-family residential community to the east and Piihana Project District lands to the south. The parcel, which is largely vacant, was used in the past by Wailuku Agribusiness to cultivate pineapple, sugar cane and macadamia nuts. In recent years, Wailuku Agribusiness has abandoned the cultivation of many fields around Wailuku, the report said.

Highridge Costa is the developer behind Maui’s Liloa Hale Senior Rental Housing Project, a three-story apartment building with 117 units on nearly 4 acres near Hope Chapel and makai of Piilani Highway. Also slated to be managed by Hale Mahaolu, Liloa Hale, which will be rented to seniors earning 60 percent or below the area median income, gained council approval last September and was touted as receiving strong community support.

In partnership with other developers, Highridge Costa is developing in phases the $130 million Kulana Hale Project mixed-use senior affordable apartment community in Kapolei. The firm also developed affordable housing community Palehua Terrace in Kapolei.

Founded in 1994, Los Angeles-based Highridge Costa has been involved in the development and financing of nearly 28,000 units of affordable multifamily housing across the nation and in Puerto Rico, according to its website. Using low-income housing tax credits, along with other types of public and private financing, the company specializes in the development, financing, construction and asset management of affordable and mixed-income housing for families and seniors.

To view the draft environmental assessment, visit oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov/The_Environmental_Notice/2021-09-23-TEN.pdf.

Comments are due by Oct. 25 and should be sent to the approving agency, the county’s Department of Housing and Human Concerns, attention Lori Tsuhako, by mail at 2200 Main St., Suite 546, Wailuku, HI 96793; by email at director.hhc@mauicounty.gov; or by phone at (808) 270-7351.

The applicant and the consultant should also be copied.

Applicant Waiehu Housing LP can be reached by contacting Monte Heaton via mail at 330 West Victoria St., Gardena, CA 90248; by email at monte.heaton@housingpartners.com; or by phone at (424) 258-2910.

Consultant Munekiyo Hiraga can be reached by contacting Chris Sugidono via mail at 305 High St., Suite 104, Wailuku, HI 96793; by email at planning@munekiyohiraga.com; or by phone at (808) 244-2015.

* Kehaulani Cerizo can be reached at kcerizo@mauinews.com.