Nā Hale Makoa opens in Waikōloa, adds 140 affordable rentals to market

Waikōloa Village just got 140 new affordable rentals, and the community is already more than 90% leased, a sign of how quickly anything priced below the open market disappears in West Hawaii. Nā Hale Makoa, built on 10.3 acres of County of Hawaii land at 68-3491 Iwikuamo‘o Drive, opened as a 140-unit workforce housing project with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, plus a resident manager’s unit.

The project’s real importance is not just the ribbon-cutting. Families began moving in back in February, meaning the Friday dedication arrived after the first residents had already started making the complex home. The development is aimed at households earning up to 140% of area median income, putting it within reach of workers who make too much for deeply subsidized housing but still struggle with Big Island rents, especially in the South Kohala and West Hawaii labor market.

Mayor Kimo Alameda cast the project as part of the county’s answer to the cost of living in West Hawaii, where workers often face the choice between long commutes and housing instability. Gov. Josh Green pointed to the health and family-stability benefits of housing people closer to where they work and raise children. For employers in Waikōloa, Kailua-Kona and the broader resort corridor, the immediate question is whether the new units can ease turnover and recruitment pressures for teachers, health care workers, service employees and other frontline staff.

Nā Hale Makoa took shape over several years through layered public financing and land-use approvals. The County of Hawaii selected Pacific Housing Assistance Corporation after a 2020 request for proposals to develop rental housing in the Kamakoa Nui subdivision. The Hawaii County Council later approved Resolution 303-23 on November 1, 2023, authorizing negotiations for a 68-year lease, and the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation documented approvals on July 8, 2023, and March 14, 2024. Financing included a $40.2 million intended tax-exempt issuance through the Hula Mae Multi-Family Bond Program, along with federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Rental Housing Revolving Fund support.

The development was completed in 17 months, within the county’s earlier estimate that families would begin moving in during the first quarter of 2026. Pacific Housing Assistance Corporation developed the project; Kamakoa Nui Limited Partnership owns it, with Pacific Kamakoa Nui GP LLC as the general partner and Indigo Real Estate Services handling property management. With 15 two-story multiplex buildings and one community center, Nā Hale Makoa is now a live example of what can be built on public land when financing, county support and development partners line up, and whether that model can be repeated elsewhere on Hawaii Island will shape the next phase of the island’s housing response.