Development

... a new report from the county’s Office of the County Auditor suggests more than two dozen ways to help speed up the process ....

... Over the past five years, 15 energy projects in the state have been cancelled — more than half of the power projects being considered ....

... 64,490 additional units are needed through 2027 but only 13,471 units are currently in development pipelines and anticipated to be available by 2027 .... 

... 11.6% of Honolulu rentals are under 348 square feet ....

... A new report from the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization shows that Hawaii permit delays in 2024 were at some of the worst levels ever ....

... a case challenging Governor Josh Green's use of emergency powers to address the state's affordable housing crisis ....

... The pace of new housing construction remains historically low. Housing permitting times continue to be long, especially in Honolulu and Maui ....

“I want him to sign the historic review bills, the impact fee bill, the permit bill.”

... SB1296 will allow most Lahaina residents in the area’s Special Management Area to rebuild without having to go through the burdensome SMA permitting process ....

... rebuilding Lahaina ....

... Ausman is not quite out of the woods yet ....

... strategic reorganization to centralize and accelerate the City’s housing initiatives ....

... Bills that will help mitigate Hawaii’s housing crisis include ....

... Even the bill’s supporters don’t pretend rents will come down ....

... fiscal notes and building codes ....

...  SB1296 seeks to exempt buildings anywhere in Hawaii destroyed by a disaster from needing a Special Management Area permit to rebuild ....

... how intractable regulations have delayed rebuilding in Lahaina ....

... Maui’s Lahaina Small Boat Harbor Ferry Pier Improvements was named one of the most significant construction projects of 2024 ....

... only 341 permits to rebuild have been issued as of the end of March 2025, and only eight homes have been completed ....

... Ausman sued Hawai‘i County’s Board of Appeals after finding himself in the strange position of owning a beach house in Milolii that he couldn’t live in or renovate ....

... Governor Green has nominated three Circuit Court Judges in the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit and Hannah Kihalani Springer to the Commission on Water Resource Management ....

... conversation between Ted Kefalas, the Grassroot Institute director of strategic campaigns, and state Rep. Lauren Matsumoto on the March 11 episode of “The Right Side” radio show ....

... he’s paying a mortgage on an empty lot and watching his resources drain away while waiting for permits and approvals to rebuild ....

... It’s a situation formed by both negligence and design ....

... promising policies, such as those mentioned in a new CEI report, may signal Hawaii is headed in a new direction in regulating its permitting system ....

... Hawaii's 204 blacklisted condo projects make us 4th-worst in USA.  Since the other top states are much larger, Hawaii probably has the most blacklisted condo units per capita ....

... members of the Pukalani Community Church of the Nazarene  spent eight months building four homes for residents displaced by Maui’s August 2023 wildfires ....

... March 6, marked the halfway point of the Hawaii's 2025 legislative session, which is when the bills that are still alive cross over from the House chamber to the Senate and vice versa ....

... HB422 would abolish the school impact fee program and transfer its balance to the School Facilities Special Fund ....

... The Hawaii Legislature has reached its halfway point and many promising bills in the areas of housing, taxation and economic freedom are still alive ....

... litigation is becoming an increasingly significant source of uncertainty and risk in Hawai‘i’s housing market ....

... control of water is the enviros new tool to block affordable housing and force you out of Hawaii ....

“...Hawaii doesn’t have a scarcity of land. We build housing and urban development on only 5% of the land mass....”

... OHA introduced three failed bills SB534, HB605, and SB211 this legislative session ....

... especially for homeless individuals with a history of mental health, memory or brain injury challenges ....

... The report says the fees are not needed, are likely unconstitutional, have never been spent, and are driving up Hawaii housing costs ....

... You might not have realized this, but Hawaii residents are living in multiple, continual states of emergency ....

... In total, 1,538 residential and commercial properties have been cleared ....

... state law defines any building, structure, object, district, area or site over 50 years old as historic ....

... measures related to housing, healthcare, taxes and government accountability ....

... Hawaii’s high housing costs are due mostly to Hawaii’s excessively strict land-use and zoning regulations, as well as its long permitting wait times ....

“...Lessons from Maui as LA Begins to Rebuild....”

... Updating the definition of “historic property” would speed up permitting for homebuilding while protecting Hawaii’s history ....

... Maui County Council considering multiple housing-related bills, including one aimed specifically at making it easier for older buildings to be rebuilt after the 2023 wildfires ....

... Properties mauka of Front Street or outside of the erosion hazard line are now exempt from SMA rules, which typically require lengthy review processes ....

"... Bill 105, which would waive for five years the nonconformity rule for churches, temples and anyone else seeking to rebuild in the wake of the Lahaina fires...."

... by partnering with developers to activate underutilized public lands, exploring innovative financing strategies to unlock new resources, and reorganizing its housing functions to centralize development, finance, and policy efforts ....

... learn more about Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ plan to change the law that will allow residential development up to 400 ft tall in Kaka’ako Makai ....

... California Gov. Gavin Newsom is looking to Hawaii for advice on how to rebuild after wildfires ....

... In June 2022, the State Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) designated the Lahaina Aquifer Sector Area as both a ground and surface water management area ....