Affordable housing developer seeks to build 500 homes in Kihei
Peter Savio acquiring property where A&B’s Kamalani project is located
Maui residents may have a chance to buy a lot and build a home for less than $500,000 if an Oahubased developer gets his wish.
Peter Savio on Friday officially unveiled his Koa Waena project in north Kihei, where he hopes to establish a rural subdivision with around 500 homes on 5,000square-foot lots.
Savio hopes the lots could sell for between $200,000 to $250,000 each and is hoping the home prices will be in the $200,000 to $250,000 range — a total cost that would be roughly half the current median sales price of $1 million for a single-family home in Maui County.
Savio will be selling the lots at cost and limiting the developer’s profit to no more than five percent.
He is also looking to work with the Carpenters Union to build the single-family homes that will have between two to four bedrooms along with carports and back and front yards. Savio said he will not be building the homes, so the price do not need to include a profit for the developer, which reduces the overall price for the buyer.
“Our housing crisis is so desperate, I think this is the only program that makes sense,” Savio said in an interview with The Maui News Friday morning.
He added that the homes will remain “affordable” throughout the years and that sales costs will be tied to local wages.
So, if a home sells 20 years from now, its selling price will depend on what the cost of affordable housing looks like then.
Savio also held a news conference on Oahu Friday morning to announce the project and upcoming community meetings on Maui to gauge community interest, concerns and support as well as provide more information on the project.
The first meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 8. Both meetings will be at Kihei Charter School at 650 Lipoa Parkway. More information, including on how to join a mailing list for updates, can be found at Koawaena.com.
Savio said that in the 1960s, there was local ownership and control of hotels, shopping centers, industrial
areas and the residential market. But now a lot of it is moving to off-island owners.
“If we don’t turn those numbers on the residential side, we are going to lose control of our residential market,” Savio said.
“We don’t have 10 or 20 years, we got five to 10 years, and if we don’t get it done in five years, start the process. We are going to lose 60,000 people, that’s how critical it is. That’s why I’m doing all these projects.”
In addition to Koa Waena, Savio also has other affordable projects in the mix, including the 81-unit affordable housing project, Kihei Wailani Village, which is awaiting permits. On Oahu, Savio has his new farm lots project “Ohana Farm Parcels” in Central Oahu, dedicated to agriculture and local farmers.
As for Koa Waena, Savio said he could not disclose the actual location of the property yet but that he is acquiring it in Kihei.
A source confirmed that Savio is acquiring the property where Alexander & Baldwin’s Kamalani project sits in north Kihei, which is located off Maui Veterans Highway near the North Kihei Road junction. Construction on 170 units, the first phase of the 630-unit master-planned Kamalani development, began in March 2017, and a grand opening was held later that year.
An A&B spokesperson said late Friday afternoon that there were “no updates to share.”
In 2021, in documents provided to the state Land Use Commission, A&B noted how Kamalani’s buyer pool was “negatively affected by Economic Downturn” during the COVID-19 pandemic, as its buyer profile indicated a higher percentage of owners and rental occupants of investorowned units were employed by the hospitality sector, which was “devastated” by the pandemic.
Other potential buyers may have been laid off or had their hours reduced. In early 2021, there were around 460 potential homes to be sold in the project, documents show.
A&B convinced the LUC in 2021 to grant the company a time extension to complete “proposed backbone infrastructure, including the primary roadways and access point, residential internal roadways and water supply, sewage and electrical infrastructure by April 28, 2031.”
Savio said he still needs to work with county officials on what will be required of them for the project, which could also affect the cost of lots and homes.
But overall, Savio hopes that construction can begin within the next year. He said that homes could be built at the same time as infrastructure.
Purchase opportunities will be based on a lottery system, according to a news release.
When buyers select their units, lenders, contractors, consultants and construction managers will work with the buyers to see that homes are built “hassle free,” according to the project’s website.
Only Maui contractors will be used for the project.
Savio said he has lenders who have expressed interest in the project and can get funding for acquisition.
But, he said, “my concern is if I can get the support of the council, can I get the support of the community and if I can get the support of the potential buyers.”