A map shows the 12.5-acre site of the future Waikapu Development Venture 100-percent affordable housing project along Waiale Road. The 80-unit project is already approved but is seeking county funding and changes that would switch out some duplexes for single-family homes. It is also seeking to push the construction deadline to 2027. Waikapu Development Venture graphics

A housing developer is seeking a $10.6 million subsidy from the county to keep an already-approved 100 percent affordable workforce project in Waikapu afloat.

During a Maui County Council Housing and Land Use Committee meeting on Wednesday morning, Keoni Gomes of Waikapu Development Venture said it was only a few weeks ago that he thought the 12.5-acre project that calls for 80 affordable units on 74 lots was “underwater and unable to move forward,” but now hopes that funds from the county and the approval of a proposed design change will help see plans through.

The project currently calls for 12 duplex units at 70 to 80 percent of the area median income, 12 single-family units at 81 to 100 percent AMI, 40 single-family homes at 101 to 120 percent AMI and 16 single-family units at 121 to 140 percent AMI.

In the low-income bracket, the sales price for a three-bedroom house would be around $310,000 with a total monthly mortgage of about $2,054. The sales price for below-moderate levels would be around $392,530 and for above-moderate brackets would be around $553,163.

However, Gomes said Wednesday that the organization is proposing to replace six duplex lots with 12 single-family dwelling lots, which would increase the project to 80 single-family lots. These would still be offered at 70 to 80 percent AMI.

The original site plan (at left) that called for 68 single-family units and six duplexes (12 units) is shown in comparison to the proposed new site plan that switches out the duplexes and instead calls for 80 single-family homes. Waikapu Development Venture graphics

“We thought it would be better for people to have their own units rather than having two families living on the same lot in the same structure,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that it would be theirs and only theirs.”

Waikapu Development Venture is also proposing to eliminate the dead-end interior roadway to improve accessibility for the Maui Fire Department; reduce sidewalks to one side of the street to save on overall project costs; eliminate the pocket park to open up space for the six additional single-family lots; and have the county maintain the retention basin and greenways to reduce homeowners association fees for residents.

“These design changes will give us more efficiencies to make the project more feasible for development,” Gomes said. “And as you can see, we are requesting funding in this project, so being as efficient as possible to provide homes to those who need it is the forefront of our operation.”

It’s taken about eight years to receive all the necessary permits, Gomes said. In 2020, the project was approved for an extension on the construction deadline to 2024 while developers worked to overcome delays.

Now, developers will be applying for a new extension from the state Land Use Commission for the construction deadline to July 11, 2027.

The project is still anticipated to be fully completed for folks to move in by 2026, he said.

Construction of the roughly $47 million project commenced in August, including the installation of the main waterline by July and seven fire hydrants on Waiale Road. The two-lot subdivision and house plans are being processed.

About $4 million out of pocket has already been spent, Gomes said.

However, project plans have been on hold pending a $10.6 million county subsidy and site amendments, but “hopefully we will receive the funding to move the project forward,” Gomes said.

This would equate to a subsidy of $133,125 per unit. The project would need about $2 million upfront to move forward, he said, and then receive the remaining funds in different phases every several months until the development is complete, which the county could award based on progress.

While there are still some modification requests that need to be worked out, Lori Tsuhako, director of the Maui County Department of Housing and Human Concerns, said that the department “in general” supports the project.

“Ultimately, we want families to move into those homes, so we have given those assurances to Mr. Gomes and his colleagues and we look forward to working on it,” Tsuhako said. “We don’t want to impose unnecessary delays to the project.”

No action was taken by the Housing and Land Use Committee on Wednesday after the project updates and requests, though “it looks like council members are generally supportive,” Council Chairperson Alice Lee said.

With many details to be ironed out, committee Chairperson Tasha Kama deferred the item to May 23.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

A map shows the 12.5-acre site of the future Waikapu Development Venture 100-percent affordable housing project along Waiale Road. The 80-unit project is already approved but is seeking county funding and changes that would switch out some duplexes for single-family homes. It is also seeking to push the construction deadline to 2027. Waikapu Development Venture graphics The original site plan (at left) that called for 68 single-family units and six duplexes (12 units) is shown in comparison to the proposed new site plan that switches out the duplexes and instead calls for 80 single-family homes. Waikapu Development Venture graphics

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