DHHL to offer first East Hawaii Island residential leases in more than two decades

HILO (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is getting ready to award leases to new 400 residential lots in East Hawaii Island.

Read more Hawaii prep star Alika Ahu among top local MLB draft prospects

It comes as the DHHL is stepping up home lands awards to Native Hawaiians who’ve been on a long waiting list.

The residential lots are in a 334-acre undeveloped area that will be known as the Panaewa Homestead near Hilo.

The DHHL is scheduled to offer the first 200 leases Saturday at the UH-Hilo Performing Arts Center Theater.

“We haven’t made awards for the Hilo area in over two decades,” said DHHL Director Kali Watson.

The department will offer the other 200 leases next month.

It’s been a long time coming for tens of thousands of Native Hawaiians who’ve been waiting for lands they had been promised under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which was signed into law 105 years ago this week.

“It’s a statement that the State of Hawaii is finally taking seriously their commitment as to the promise that it made in order to get statehood — that it would take care of the Native Hawaiians,” said Watson.

Britney Kalua is one of the lucky ones who’s being awarded one of the leases.

“Obviously super excited because it allows me to be able to keep me and my future generations here in Hawaii,” she said.

Read more Man charged in Ala Moana Beach attempted murder investigation

In the next few weeks, Watson said the DHHL will be making 815 more lease awards for three different sites on Oahu.

“We’re going to be making awards, 400 in Ewa Beach, which is a recently acquired land base that we have,” he said. “We’re also going to revisit Waimanalo, which is a wonderful place to live,” adding that another 400 lots will be offered there, along with 15 lots in scattered areas of Nanakuli.

The DHHL is also getting ready to offer units in its first high-rise, called Ke Ola Hou, which was built on the old Bowl-O-Drome site in Moiliili. Watson said applications are now being accepted for the 278 units.

The department is currently on pace to offer 3,000 leases this year. But there are still 29,000 on the waiting list.

“I think because of our past record, a lot of people were turned off by the program, felt a lot of frustration and anger, been waiting, in some cases, prior to statehood,” said Watson.

“We see an alarming rate of Hawaiians moving outside of Hawaii, so this is just another opportunity to keep Hawaiians in Hawaii,” said Kalua. “Because what would Hawaii be without Hawaiians?”

The DHHL said the first person whose name will be called for a Panaewa Homestead Lot has been on the waiting list since August 1972.

Read more Evacuations lifted as wildfire heads away from Waikoloa Village