Housing site for elderly in the works for Kihei

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

KIHEI, Maui — Maui's fastest-growing community is finally getting low-income housing for the elderly.

The nonprofit Hale Mahaolu is planning the $11.1 million Hale Mahaolu Ehiku project consisting of 53 one-bedroom rental apartments, a senior center and an adult day-care building.

The project is planned for a six-acre site at the corner of Pi'ilani Highway and East Welakahao Road in Kihei. The county is leasing the land to Hale Mahaolu for $1 a year.

Residents will pay an average monthly rent of about $250, with the rest of the amount subsidized by federal programs.

A later phase will provide 66 one-bedroom units and a residential care home.

Hale Mahaolu manages 13 properties in Maui County with a total of more than 900 rental units for low- and moderate-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities. It has properties in Lahaina, Makawao, Kahului and Wailuku, and on Moloka'i and Lana'i, but none until now in the South Maui region.

There are long waiting lists at all the Hale Mahaolu sites. The wait for a unit in Makawao is eight years, said Executive Director Roy Katsuda.

The Kihei project got a big boost this week with news of a $1.06 million grant awarded to Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian Bank, which had applied for the money on behalf of Hale Mahaolu. The grant is from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle's Affordable Housing Program.

Katsuda said Hale Mahaolu has received about $1 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and is seeking additional financing from public and private sources.

Katsuda said a host of issues has to be resolved before construction can begin, including land-use permits, environmental reviews, drainage and roads. Building could begin in September 2004 at the earliest, he said.