Once home to a number of walk-up apartment buildings, the site along Kapi‘olani Boulevard in Mō‘ili‘ili is now an empty lot. Here, developers plan to construct Kuilei Place, a new residential community that will include 1,005 one-, two- and three-bedroom homes on 3.15 acres.
The condominium development is a partnership between Kobayashi Group, a family-owned and managed real estate development and investment firm focused solely in Hawai‘i, and BlackSand Capital, a Hawai‘i-focused real estate private equity firm.
A blessing and ground breaking ceremony was held Wednesday.
When it's complete, Kuilei Place will have a 43-story tower on the Diamond Head side of the property and a 12-story mid-rise building facing Kapi‘olani Boulevard that will be connected by a 13-story parking structure.
The development will offer a mix of market-rate and workforce residences aimed at those who make between 80% and 140% of the area median income.
According to representatives of the developer, 603 of the 1,005 residences are "affordable," including 148 one-bedroom units, 382 two-bedroom units and 73 three-bedroom units.
The remaining 402 market rate units include nine live-work lofts, 96 one-bedroom units, 169 two-bedroom units and 128 three-bedroom units.
Kuilei Place was the first project approved to participate in the Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Corp.'s Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund Equity Pilot Program. This program aims to help individuals working in some professions facing critical labor shortages — such as health care workers, educators and first responders — achieve homeownership.
There also will be 7,211 square feet of commercial and retail space, 50,643 square feet of open space, 1,670 parking stalls and storage for approximately 600 bicycles, the representative noted. Other amenities will include a swimming pool, lounge areas, barbecue cabanas, play spaces for keiki, wellness spaces, a walking path with fitness stations, and private dining and club rooms, and more.
An announcement from the developers noted, too, that the Kuilei Place will feature dining concepts from Aoki Group.
According to the developers, Kuilei Place also will have the first residential on-site greywater reuse system in Hawai‘i, which will recycle water from sinks, showers and laundry machines, saving approximately 11 million gallons of water each year.
More than 85% of the residences have already been sold, the developers said.
Five years ago, Kuilei Place was just an idea from a colleague at BlackSand Capital, Kobayashi Group CEO Alana Kobayashi Pakkala told the crowd gathered Wednesday.
"Can we make make this work? Can we do a 201H permit, get 60% of the homes sold under the state affordable housing program and make it pencil?" she said. "Can we change the way people look at kama‘āina-focused or affordable housing?
"From the beginning, we knew it was ambitious," Pakkala continued. "This project faced many challenges ... but we were determined to reimagine what kama‘āina housing could be in Honolulu. Our vision was clear — to create not just homes, but a community where local families could thrive and build their future through homeownership. Despite the initial resistance, we did have many supporters who believed in the project's potential and the idea that we could make a meaningful, positive impact to change our city."
"Honestly, I'm just so grateful," Pakkala told Aloha State Daily following the ceremony, when asked how it felt to reach this point in the project. "I'm humbled and grateful thinking about all the people that are here today that we wouldn't be here without."
Pakkala says there are many challenges to bring forth any development, but this has been "the most challenging I've encountered in my almost 25-year career. But yet, like with most things, it's the most gratifying because I know that it makes a huge impact.
"I know that we are going to change the lives of these 1,000 households, families, fundamentally, and that this will be a kama‘āina-focused home and community — really a vertical neighborhood. And to blend seamlessly and together our 80% to 140% AMI households with our market households, and deliver a community that meets everyone's needs, both financially, but also from a heart and mind perspective ... I think that's the most gratifying element."
Pakkala says there were a total of 141 apartments in the mid-century walkups that were once on the property. The developers assisted those tenants with transitioning to new housing in late 2023, she said.
According to Pakkala, it's taken almost five years for the developers to get to this point. And as for the Kuilei Place development, she says the goal is to move homeowners in toward the end of 2027.
A number of state and city leaders spoke during the event, including Gov. Josh Green and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi.
"A project like this, when I'm standing on the ground, I can envision the nurses that are going to be living here, the teachers, and it's very easy for me to visualize that," Green told ASD following the ceremony. "That is one of the core demographics that will be here, and that helps solve our health care crisis, that helps eliminate the shortage of teachers every year. This is a real excellent solution for many of our challenges."
Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
