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This is Beau. He is a textbook example of a golden retriever. They really will try to be friends with anyone...

Smile 26 3 9

<title>Daily Smile: Monday, March 9, 2026</title>

Daily Smile: Monday, March 9, 2026

 This is Beau. He is a textbook example of a golden retriever. They really will try to be friends with anyone...

Pua headshot

Puanani Fernandez-Akamine

Viewpoints

Hawaii History

, preeminent 20th century Native Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui wrote: “Members of the ʻohana, like taro shoots, are all from the same root. With Hawaiians, family consciousness of the same ʻroot of origin’ was a deeply felt, unifying force, no matter how many offshoots came from offshoots.”

Traditionally, our moʻokūʻauhau (genealogies) establish us as Kānaka ʻŌiwi – the Indigenous people of Hawaiʻi. It is from this foundation of moʻokūʻauhau that we have pilina to our ancestors, to this ʻāina, and to one another; an identity established by bloodlines, lineage, and connection.

It was not until the 1921 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was passed by the U.S. Congress, with language defining “natives” as those individuals having 50% or more Hawaiian blood, that the idea of “blood quantum” to determine our Hawaiian-ness was introduced into the consciousness of our people and began to redefine how we saw ourselves.

[{"type":"text","text":"A tool of dispossession"}]

The idea of blood quantum to determine indigeneity is an invention of settler colonial governments designed to dispossess Native Peoples from their lands.

In Canada, the 1876 Indian Act, still in effect today, determines who receives “status” from the government. “Status Indians” must be 50% or more Indigenous and are eligible for a variety of benefits not available to the rest of the population. Whether or not a person identifies as Indigenous, or practices Indigenous culture and traditions, is irrelevant to the designation.

Mi’kmaq attorney and professor Pamela D. Palmater writes: “There is a long-term effect of this type of legislation: that every single First Nation in Canada effectively has an extinction date, a day when that Nation’s last registered Indian is born.”

In the Americas, blood quantum first shows up in 1705 in Virginia when the colony adopted an “Indian Blood Law” limiting the rights of Native Americans with 50% (or more) Indigenous ancestry and affording greater rights to those with less than 50% ancestry.

Then in 1887, Congress passed the General Allotment Act (the “Dawes Act”) which gave the U.S. president the power to break up communally held tribal lands into parcels of about 160 acres that were then “allotted” to individuals – typically heads of households. The law was designed to push Native Americans from tribal land ownership to private land ownership, ostensibly to encourage independent farming and economic prosperity.

At the time, an estimated 138-150 million acres were under Tribal authority and control. According to the Native Governance Center, under the Dawes Act “the federal government used blood quantum to determine allotment eligibility and also granted Native people with lower blood quantums the ability to sell their allotments. Any unallotted ʻsurplus’ land [in the end about 90 million acres] was sold to non-native buyers. The federal government used this strategy to further strip Native nations of their land base.”

In other words, the government “gave” portions of land already controlled by the Native Nations to their individual members and when there were no more tribal members “eligible” to receive a land allotment based on blood quantum, the government kept the rest (about 65% of the original acreage) and sold it to non-natives.

The “Indian Reorganization Act” of 1934 ended the forced allotment of tribal lands as the federal government changed its policy to one of recognition of tribal governments and the promotion of self-government – so long as they conformed to an American model. However, it also formalized blood quantum as the federal tool for defining Native American identity and tribal membership, replacing kinship-based membership systems.

“Blood quantum emerged as a way to measure ʻIndian-ness’ through a construct of race. So that over time, Indians would literally breed themselves out and rid the federal government of their legal duties to uphold treaty obligations,” explained Dr. Elizabeth Rule (Chickasaw) an assistant professor at American University in a 2018 NPR interview.

According to the Native Governance Center, the Indian Reorganization Act resulted in many Native nations adopting “boilerplate constitutions” developed by the federal government that included using – for the first time – blood quantum as the basis for tribal citizenship.

[{"type":"text","text":"Deciding who is Hawaiian"}]

According to Dr. J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, a professor of Indigenous Studies at Princeton University, “the blood quantum rule operates as a technique of state craft that undergirds dispossession” noting that “U.S. governmental bodies have used blood quantum classifications both historically and in the present to appropriate Native lands and promote cultural and biological assimilation to the advantage of whiteness.”

Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Sovereignty and Indigeneity

, focuses on the U.S. imposition of blood quantum on Hawaiians codified in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA) of 1921.

As her research documents, the legislation initially proposed by Hawaiʻi’s Congressional Delegate, Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, defined Native Hawaiians as all Hawaiians “in whole or part.” Members of Congress, however, were uncomfortable with an all-inclusive definition of Native Hawaiian and pushed for a new definition. Eventually, 1/32 became a hypothetical example and later, the newly proposed standard.

Kūhiō saw the HHCA as “belated justice” and emphasized in his testimony before Congress that Hawaiian dispossession, depopulation and economic marginalization had to be remedied. Its purpose, therefore, was rehabilitative and inclusive.

The greatest opposition to the HHCA came from Hawaiʻi’s wealthy corporate plantation and ranch owners. They sent their representatives to Washington, D.C., to voice their dissent to Kūhiō’s proposed legislation. Unwilling to give up their access to trust lands, they proposed “full-blood Hawaiian” as the most appropriate definition.

Kauanui asserts that the blood quantum criterion emerged as a way to avoid recognizing Hawaiian entitlement to the lands desired for the homestead program. “Key players in the HHCA hearings redefined ʻneed’ in racial terms by using blood quantum as an indicator of social competency, where those defined by the 50% rule were deemed incapable to look out for themselves,” she said.

“Hence, in the quest to control Hawaiian land and assets, blood quantum classification emerged as a way to undermine Kānaka Maoli sovereignty claims – not only by explicitly limiting the number who could lay claim to the land, but also by reframing the Native connection to the land itself from a legal claim to one based on charity.”

This was evident in the testimony of attorney William B. Pittman at the Congressional hearings in December 1920 on behalf of Raymond Ranch (now Ulupalakua Ranch) and other interests.

Arguing that the legislation should only apply to full-blooded Hawaiians Pittman said, “I do not believe the delegate [Kūhiō] will object to that – that it be confined to the full blood instead of the half blood – because he knows and everybody knows that any part Hawaiian is capable of taking care of himself and does not need any rehabilitation.”

To which Kūhiō replied, “I would like to see everybody get the benefit of it in Hawaiʻi. For years past and up to the present time, the Hawaiians have never received any benefits.”

The proposed legislation continued to use a 1/32 blood quantum to define Native Hawaiians at least through April 1921. However, after the proposal was rejected by Congress for an unrelated reason and sent back to the territorial legislature for revision, 1/8 became the new standard being debated.

By the time the proposal went back to Congress, however, Native Hawaiian was defined as 50%, “a compromise made between Kūhiō and Hawaiʻi Sen. John H. Wise (also Kanaka Maoli) with the elite ʻMerchant Street gang’ in Honolulu,” Kauanui said.

She posits that “had there been an abiding focus on Hawaiian land entitlements, rather than a shift to a welfare discourse of Hawaiian neediness, genealogical descent could have remained as the way to determine Kānaka Maoli eligibility for homesteading, since as descendants of the kingdom, Kānaka Maoli could claim an equitable right to the land as their inheritance.”

However, she adds, “neither the island representatives serving the interests of the sugar corporations, nor the U.S. government intended to bolster Hawaiian claims, especially those that would call U.S. occupation into question.”

Kūhiō’s call for Hawaiian rehabilitation focused on Indigenous mortality and the HHCA was originally premised on recognition of citizenship under the Hawaiian Kingdom as Hawaiians grappled with unresolved land rights, “but the problem was in articulating that awareness of these historical claims within the confines of American law, citizenship and racial categories,” said Kauanui.

[{"type":"text","text":"Blood quantum and identity"}]

Until 1921, Hawaiians were simply Hawaiians. After foreign contact began in 1778, the mixed race children of Hawaiian mothers and (mostly) European fathers were raised Hawaiian and fully integrated into Hawaiian society.

Hawaiian identity was based on lineage and cultural norms rather than racial reckoning, thus many Hawaiian children of mixed ancestry were not even aware of their mixed ancestry – especially if they were hānai.

Today, despite the imposition of blood quantum on the Hawaiian psyche for the past 100 years, in most instances one’s appearance or estimated blood quantum is not an exclusionary social factor because of the importance of genealogy and pilina within the Hawaiian community. Indeed, nearly every Hawaiian family today includes members who qualify (and don’t qualify) as Native Hawaiian under the federal definition.

Reflecting on the negative impacts of blood quantum on our lāhui, Papa Ola Lōkahi CEO Dr. Sheri Daniels observed that it becomes a “have or have not” question. “I think when we talk about blood quantum, people get really stuck around ʻwhat does it mean for me? How do I benefit?’” She acknowledges that we need spaces, as ʻŌiwi, to talk through the ʻeha (pain) associated with the blood quantum label and the ways it has divided us.

“We come from strong people so why are we still focused on how disparate we are? We know our moʻokūʻauhau. It is about having koko (blood). If someone tells me they are Kanaka, I’m going to take that at face value. I’m not going to ask to see their documents.”

[{"type":"text","text":"As it suits their needs"}]

In discussing blood quantum as a colonial invention used to acquire land, wealth and power, it is important to point out the glaring contradiction between the imposition of blood quantum policies on Indigenous Peoples as distinct from Black Americans.

While the federal government has consistently imposed minimum blood quantum requirements on Indigenous Peoples to establish them as “native,” any amount of African blood was enough to establish someone as Black.

The notorious “one drop” rule originated after slavery ended in 1863 and was entrenched during the “Jim Crow” era, a period of legalized racial discrimination in America, primarily in southern states. It persisted until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Rooted in white supremacy and slavery, the “one drop” rule was intended to keep the white race “pure” and to prevent individuals with any amount of African blood from accessing the privileges of whiteness in America. Meanwhile, Indigenous persons of mixed race were not only permitted to assimilate – they were encouraged to do so.

Dr. Brian W. Dippie is a professor emeritus of U.S. cultural history at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. In his 1982 book, 

The Vanishing American: White Attitudes and the U.S. Indian Policy

, he writes, “The situations of the Negro (sic) and the Indian were not really analogous … one was earmarked for a segregated, menial existence, the other for full participation in white civilization.”

Expanding on this idea he notes, “The native population was small – just an infinitesimal fraction of the whole American population – and while a massive infusion of Indian blood might pollute the national type, the limited amount available could do no harm and might even do some good.”

For the U.S. government, assimilation of Indigenous Peoples had several benefits. For one thing, absorption of Indigenous Peoples into the dominant white American culture negates pesky Indigenous land and sovereignty claims, and reduces the number of individuals who can qualify for federal benefits as people intermarry.

Indigenous People have also been fetishized in American culture in ways that Black Americans have not. Take, for example, the romanticized “noble savage” trope or the sexualized “hula girl” of the territorial era. These stereotypes make native peoples more palatable and even inspire dubious claims of Indigenous ancestry.

[{"type":"text","text":"Impossible to measure"}]

Blood quantum as a concept for determining our Hawaiian-ness has become entrenched over the past century. As a result, many of us think of ourselves and our Hawaiian identity in terms of fractions.

However, blood quantum is impossible to quantify and cannot be measured using birth certificates. The reason? Science.

Children inherit half of their DNA from their mother and half from their father. But unless they are identical twins, siblings do not inherit the exact same DNA. That is why children from the same family can look quite different.

A child receives 23 sets of chromosomes from each parent – so 46 altogether – which makes up their DNA. When joined, these chromosomes commingle and swap genetic information resulting in even more variations.

According to biotech company Sano Genetics, there are more than 8 million possible DNA combinations from just 23 chromosome sets, and research has shown that full siblings can share as little as 37% or as much as 65% of their genetic variants.

So while siblings receive 50% of their DNA from each parent, they don’t receive the exact same 50%. It is the reason why siblings who take DNA tests often get very different results. Thus blood quantum is an unscientific western construct without substance or merit.

[{"type":"text","text":"Reconciling and moving forward"}]

In contrast to genealogies and lineage which connect people to each other and to the land, the use of blood quantum to determine “Hawaiian-ness” attempts to classify ʻŌiwi into disparate groups of Hawaiians, which has divided families and communities for generations.

As intermarriage created new family dynamics and the 50% blood quantum requirement threatened HHCA descendants with dispossession from the land they were raised on, to its credit the State of Hawaiʻi was able to get Congressional approval to decrease the blood quantum requirement for successorship from 50% to 25% more than 20 years ago.

More recently, in 2017, the State of Hawaiʻi signed Act 80 into law further decreasing the HHCA successorship requirement to 1/32 Hawaiian – much closer to the original vision of Prince Kūhiō. However, implementation requires Congressional approval and it has been languishing in Washington, D.C., since 2022.

Ultimately, as is the case among First Nations Peoples, many ʻŌiwi object to the 50% blood quantum designation – not because they desire federal benefits – but because it is inherently divisive and undermines Indigenous self-identity and political claims. “Hawaiian kinship and genealogical modes of identification allow for political empowerment in the service of nation-building because it is inclusive,” Kauanui said.

“Not only is the genealogical approach more wide-reaching, it is embedded in Indigenous ontologies (realities) whereby peoplehood is rooted in the land. This inclusivity is especially true in the face of non-Hawaiian political opposition to Native Hawaiian entitlements and the sovereignty movement.”

While blood quantum continues to be a controversial topic, it does not need to be a divisive one. “We may not see eye-to-eye,” Daniels said. “But, at the end of the day, if we all collectively say that our North Star is being Hawaiian – and we practice being the best Kanaka we can be – then everything else is just noise.”

Author’s note: Mahalo nui to Dr. J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, who generously shared her extensive research on blood quantum for the purposes of this article. Dr. Kauanui is an author, professor and expert on settler colonialism, self-determination, decolonization, international law, race, gender and sexuality. To learn more about Act 80 and to track changes to the HHCA visit: 

This article is reprinted with permission from 

OHA's Ka Wai Ola newspaper: "Designed to Divide: Understanding Blood Quantum" by Puanani Fernandez-Akamine, in its March 2026 issue, Vol. 43 No. 3. Read more at 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Understanding Blood Quantum 16x9

<title>Community Voices: Understanding Blood Quantum</title>

It was not until the 1921 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was passed by the U.S. Congress, with language defining “natives” as those individuals having 50% or more Hawaiian blood, that the idea of “blood quantum” to determine our Hawaiian-ness was introduced into the consciousness of our people.

Community Voices: Understanding Blood Quantum

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Food & Dining

Restauranteur Ted Davenport has spent three decades in Hawai‘i's food scene. His latest endeavor brings a coffee brand founded in Hawai‘i to Honolulu's Kaimukī neighborhood.

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawai‘i's newest location at 3502-C Wai‘alae Ave. opens March 13.

[{"type":"text","text":"It's been a long time coming, Davenport told Aloha State Daily."}]

"We thought we'd open last May," he said after commenting on the lengthy permitting process.

Davenport will operate the store in partnership with 

Galu and Diane Tagovailoa, parents of NFL quarterback 

"His parents are really good friends of mine and they wanted to have a business in Hawai‘i, so we kind of put this together," he said.

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawai‘i was founded on Hawai‘i Island in 1989, "with a goal of sharing American-grown, premium Hawaiian coffee from Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, Molokai, Kona and Ka‘u with coffee lovers everywhere," its 

. There are nearly 40 franchise locations across the U.S., with 63 shops in various stages of development.

, there's currently one other location in Hawai‘i — at 3636 Lower Honoapi‘ilani Road in West Maui. 

The new Kaimukī shop spans 1,234 square feet and is expected to create 14 to 16 new jobs, a recent announcement noted. 

Davenport is a former firefighter who, in 1988, was looking for a way to supplement his income when he "got into the Subway franchise business" and ultimately partnered with Subway to develop the brand in Hawai‘i, he told ASD. He left the fire department in the early 2000s and focused on developing brands. He also brought Ruby Tuesdays to the Islands and helped develop and open a number of other eateries.

When asked how he got involved with Bad Ass Coffee, Davenport says that Subway had sold; the company was going to buy him out but he wanted to "continue on doing something." He had been looking at coffee opportunities since his daughter went to college in Oregon and he saw the coffee concepts that were available in the Oregon and Washington area.

"I was trying to see what different concepts were out there and I visited different coffee concepts," he says. "What I liked about Bad Ass is they give you pure product. And when I say that, if you order an iced coffee or iced latte, the ice is made out of coffee. If you order our Frappuccinos ... it comes out of a tailor-made machine, which is cream and coffee, then we add the flavors. We don't use ice."

[{"type":"text","text":"Ice is only used in energy drinks and smoothies, he noted."}]

Reaching this point "feels real good," Davenport told ASD. "It was a long process and to get there, you just have to have the patience and understand that [not] everything's going to happen in a moment. But I enjoy developing. I enjoy giving a product to the customer that they're going to really enjoy and come back and tell somebody about it. That gives me the thrill of doing what I keep on doing."

[{"type":"text","text":"Davenport plans to open three locations in total."}]

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawai‘i — Honolulu will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

"I want people to come in and try our product and give us a feedback on what they think and [if] they see something we can improve or do," Davenport says. "We'd love to hear feedback from the public and our customers. It always helps us to be able to grow the brand and give them what they want."

Interested in your own franchise? Find more information 

. Franchisees can expect to invest between $526,100 to $992,400, the announcement notes.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Meaning behind the name"}]

According to the company's site, for generations, donkeys of Kona "could be heard bellowing as they carried precious loads of coffee beans down the steep mountains of the Big Island." The people of Kona name these animals the "'bad ass ones' because of their reliably strong but stubborn nature in carrying their precious cargo."

Badass coffee 030626

<title>Bad Ass Coffee opens in Kaimukī March 13</title>

You'll find the newest location at 3502-C Wai‘alae Ave.

Bad Ass Coffee opens in Kaimukī March 13

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Located in the former space of Nami Kaze, 

Thirty Eight restaurant opened for dinner at Pier 38

The eatery just launched its new lunch menu, and the restaurant is now open from Monday to Saturday.

According to chef de cuisine Daysen Masuda, the lunch menu is inspired by familiar flavors and plate lunch fare.

“I wanted to do something different from your normal plate lunch,” he says. “I feel like this menu is familiar to everyone — misoyaki butterfish, ‘ahi belly, Korean fried chicken and loco moco are staples here in Hawaiʻi — but we’re putting our own spin on it here. Here at Thirty Eight, how could we make it a little more elevated?”

Appetizers include popular selections from the eatery’s dinner menu, including maguro cabbage ($21), poke crackers ($12), calamari katsu ($17) and cabbage Caesar ($16).

The mix plate ($26) is not only aesthetically pleasing, but equally tasty. It includes a daily catch — in our case, guava chili ‘ahi — short ribs, spicy ‘ahi, watercress salad, potato salad and Spam fried rice.

“When you go out and eat a plate lunch, you want to have a little bit of everything,” Masuda says. “Especially here at Thirty Eight, we’re using really good seafood and fresh ‘ahi, so we wanted to highlight it. It’s just a mixture of flavors.

“The Spam fried rice is actually my mom’s Spam rice,” he adds. “(When I was) growing up, she made that for potlucks. I’m also a big fan of potato salad, so you gotta have potato salad. The potato salad is dusted with chermoula (a blend of spices); that’s paying homage to chef Mourad and (previously) working with him.” 

The black cod ($28) is served with shredded cabbage, potato salad and white rice. Meanwhile, the Korean fried chicken plate ($20) features a generous portion of chicken.

“We’re using the chicken quarter at dinner for the huli huli chicken, so I wanted to cross utilize that as well, but who doesn’t want a nice, big portion of chicken for lunch?” says Masuda, who notes this is one of his favorite dishes.

“It’s kind of inspired by my mom’s Korean fried chicken, but we do add a little bit of guava jelly in there,” he says. “It’s a little sweet and a little spicy.”

The eatery’s loco moco ($24) is expected to be a local favorite. The beef patty is topped with two sunny side up eggs, brown gravy and Hamakua mushrooms, and is served with rice.

“Everything starts with good quality,” Masuda says. “We’re using Prime ground beef topped with local eggs; we make grown gravy from scratch.”

The ‘ahi belly plate ($22) features local big-eye ‘ahi with ponzu butter, potato salad, watercress and white rice.

For dessert, diners can enjoy scoops ($9 each) from ice cream business Please Come Again, located in Kailua. Choose from shiso mint chip — topped with freeze-dried strawberries — and Vietnamese iced coffee, which is topped with condensed milk and cocoa nibs. Masuda notes that the restaurant is currently working on a dessert program.

“I’m excited (for this menu); for lunch down here at the pier, there’s a lot of guys that work around here, but a lot of tourists and locals. as well,” he says. “Lunch is always a little more casual; this is what I think people will like.

“That’s the cool thing about this project — we have a blank slate,” he adds. “Hawai

i is such a big melting pot of diverse cultures, so that’s why you’ll get some Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese flavors here, but it all works because that’s Hawai

Open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch, 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner Mondays to Saturdays

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Thirty Eight Honolulu lunch spread 030626

<title>Thirty Eight Honolulu launches lunch service</title>

The new eatery, which recently opened for dinner at Pier 38, just debuted its new lunch menu. The menu features some of the most popular pūpū from the dinner menu, along with elevated plate lunches like a mix plate, Korean fried chicken, loco moco and more.

Thirty Eight Honolulu launches lunch service

A new bento and musubi shop recently opened in Downtown Honolulu.

, whose original location is in Kalihi, just opened another store in Downtown Honolulu. The store is located at 700 Bishop Street; it’s located next to Komala Curry (in the same building at Bar Leather Apron).

The business is known for its reasonably priced bentos. Popular options include grilled salmon ($8.90), nori bento ($6.99), and butterfish ($11.99).

The Downtown Honolulu store also has several exclusive bento options, like mochiko chicken ($10.50), chicken katsu ($10.50) and hamburg steak ($12). Chicken katsu curry ($12.99) is also a Downtown Honolulu exclusive.

Customers can also enjoy a variety of musubi, which is another Downtown Honolulu exclusive. Musubi options range from salmon ($2.99), spicy tuna ($3.19) and tuna mayo ($2.99) to mentaiko ($3.29), unagi ($4.79), kakuni ($4.39) and Spam egg ($3.39).

This location will eventually have sandwiches — including katsu ($10.95) and veggie ($9.45) options — pastas and more. The shop is currently open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.

Open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Fridays

U Kitchen downtown musubi 022726

<title>New bento and musubi shop opens in Downtown Honolulu</title>

U-Kitchen Hawaiʻi — whose original location is in Kalihi — is known for its affordable bentos, but the Downtown Honolulu store has several exclusive items, including assorted musubi, chicken katsu bentos and chicken katsu curry.

New bento and musubi shop opens in Downtown Honolulu

Government & Politics

Real Estate

Demolition is set to begin next week on property in Kalihi as the City and County of Honolulu continues efforts to bring more affordable housing to O‘ahu.

The Department of Housing and Land Management and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation — the public transit authority responsible for planning and building the rail system for the city — will start “coordinated demolition work” on city-owned properties that include the old Dee Lite Bakery at 1930 Dillingham Blvd. and 1907 Eluwene St.

The first phase of work, which includes interior activity followed by the removal of the building slab, foundation and an underground grease interceptor, will begin Monday, Dec. 15, the city said in an announcement Thursday.

Work will take place between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and is not expected to affect traffic on Dillingham, the city noted, adding that demolition is expected to take about two months.

According to the announcement, the site will remain secured with safety fencing and dust will be managed using water suppression. The city notes, too, that noise will be the most noticeable in the first month of work.

“DHLM and HART are aligning their demolition schedules at this location and the adjacent Mokauea (Kalihi) Skyline Station in order to reduce neighborhood disruptions and avoid multiple rounds of heavy-equipment mobilization,” the announcement reads. “HART will notify the surrounding residents and businesses to ensure the community is aware of the demolition schedule, anticipated impacts, and the coordination between the two agencies.”

The city acquired the 2.25-acre site for approximately $8.4 million in 2019 “as part of a long-term strategy to secure land for future affordable housing along the Dillingham corridor,” the announcement noted.

Its location across from the future Mokauea Skyline station positions the site “as one of the most strategically situated transit-oriented housing opportunities in the corridor,” the announcement continued. “Acquiring the properties ensured they would remain available for public-purpose redevelopment and supported the City’s long-term goals to increase housing opportunities in transit-rich, job-accessible neighborhoods.” 

 seeking a development partner to transform the Kalihi property into a"vibrant, transit-oriented affordable housing community,” it said at that time.

DHLM Director Kevin Auger told Aloha State Daily in August that proposals should emphasize affordability, transit integration and long-term stewardship of the property. 

The city says that preparing the property now allows DHLM and the selected partner "to accelerate community consultation, planning and design of the project."

This is just one of the city's current efforts to bring more affordable housing to the island. Partnering with the development community to build housing on city-owned lands is one of the components of a 

 the city unveiled earlier this year. You can 

, a privately owned and managed real estate development and investment firm focused solely on Hawai‘i, as its preferred negotiating partner for the redevelopment of nearly 14 city-owned acres in Kapolei into an affordable, transit-oriented rental community.

 across the Islands. Hawai‘i will need an estimated 64,490 additional housing units by 2027 to meet demand, according to the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corp.'s 2024 Hawai‘i Housing Planning study, which was 

Dee Lite Bakery kalihi

<title>Demolition of former Dee Lite Bakery to start Monday</title>

Honolulu's Department of Housing and Land Management and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation will start “coordinated demolition work” on city-owned properties that include the old Dee Lite Bakery at 1930 Dillingham Blvd. and 1907 Eluwene St. to prepare the site for redevelopment.

Demolition of former Dee Lite Bakery to start Monday

The City and County of Honolulu is taking yet another step towards the development of more affordable housing along the Skyline rail route.

The Department of Housing and Land Management, or DHLM, is seeking a development partner to transform a city-owned property in Kalihi into a "vibrant, transit-oriented affordable housing community," the city said in an announcement Monday. A request for qualifications was issued this week.

Located across from the future Mokauea Skyline station, the 2.25-acre site includes the old Dee Lite Bakery building at 1930 Dillingham Blvd. and an adjacent parcel at 1907 Eluwene St.

Kevin Auger, director designate of DHLM, told Aloha State Daily in an emailed response to questions that the city acquired the property for $8.4 million in August 2019 "to support future affordable housing transit-oriented development."

Kalihi is a working-class, transit-rich community facing acute housing affordability pressures," he says. "Kalihi’s TOD plan (2014) cites affordable housing as the community’s top priority, with strong demand projected for rental homes near transit. The neighborhood’s TOD redevelopment vision emphasizes pedestrian-friendly, mixed-income and culturally grounded development near Skyline stations — especially around Dillingham Boulevard and Mokauea station."

Auger says that proposals should emphasize affordability, transit integration and long-term stewardship of the property. Although the city isn't specifying a total number of units it would like to see, he says that a preliminary analysis indicates the site could accommodate more than 150 affordable units, subject to final lot size and project financing.

The chosen developer also will have to conduct "robust" community engagement throughout the planning and development process.

"Community engagement is central to our process," Auger says. "Once a development partner is selected, the developer will be required to undertake community outreach, consult with and provide updates to the local Neighborhood Board and City Council members, and conduct a public hearings as required by the City Charter. This approach ensures the community has multiple opportunities to learn about the project, share input and see how their feedback is shaping outcomes."

Proposals for the Kalihi property must be submitted by 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10. The full RFQ and more information can be 

A development schedule will be created with the selected developer and more timeline details will come after the selection is made.

This is the latest in the city's efforts to bring more affordable housing to the island. In fact, Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in Monday's announcement this is the seventh city-owned property brought to market through an RFQ in 2025.

Partnering with the development community to build housing on city-owned lands is one of the components of a 

 the city unveiled earlier this year. You can 

Around the time the strategic plan was announced, Honolulu 

 for the redevelopment of four underutilized city-owned properties into affordable rental projects: 1615 Ala Wai Blvd., 436 Ena Road, 130 S. Beretania St.; and 1421 Pensacola St.

as the"preferred negotiating partner" for the 

 and Centre Urban Real Estate as the "preferred negotiating partner" for the redevelopment of

The city, which acquired 1615 Ala Wai through condemnation in January 2024, recently 

the existing, dilapidated apartment building that once sat there.

In March, the city also issued an RFQ for the 

, which it acquired for $51.5 million in January 2024, and in June 

 seeking a partner to redevelop under-used city-owned land in Kapolei.

Auger says development partners have been selected for five of the seven projects and the city is now working with them to finalize development contracts and ground leases. The city's eighth RFQ is expected to be posted in September.

"Altogether, these RFQs represent more than 20 acres of city land moving into affordable housing production this year — a scale of activation that Honolulu has never seen before," he says.

<title>Honolulu seeks developer for Kalihi property</title>

Located across from the future Mokauea Skyline station, the 2.25-acre site includes the old Dee Lite Bakery building at 1930 Dillingham Blvd. and an adjacent parcel at 1907 Eluwene St. The city acquired the property in 2019.

Daily Smile: Monday, March 9, 2026

ASD Staff

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Daily Smile: Monday, March 9, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

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Daily Smile: Sunday, March 8, 2026

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