Jason Pelaez, architect and housing task force lead with the operations branch and response division with FEMA, stands in front of the temporary units in Lahaina. The Maui News/Megan Moseley photo
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Jason Pelaez, architect and project manager for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Kilohana group housing site in Lahaina, said he has high hopes for the area’s future.
Kilohana consists of 167 modular units on 34 acres of state-owned property at Fleming Road and Malo Street. Positioned next door to Ka Laʻi Ola, a temporary housing development project that aims to support up to 1,500 wildfire survivors for the next five years, these homes have been developed and stationed over the past few months, and are expected to be fully occupied by the beginning of February.
Pelaez said what makes Kilohana temporary housing unique is that it’s intended to help with the island’s housing issues in the long run. From developing units that are up-to-code on a county level, to installing long-term, supportive infrastructure, Pelaez said the endeavor is the first of its kind.
“Certainly, we want these units to stay on Maui and provide housing for people long-term,” he said. “Whether it’s on this site, or if it’s on somebody’s private site as an ADU, or it’s something that maybe the county takes over all of them and it becomes affordable housing or housing for the formerly homeless, something like that. Still in the works, but that’s still the goal.”
Shahdy Monemzadeh, team lead and emergency management specialist at FEMA, said that hasn’t always been the case for FEMA temporary housing efforts.
“We would typically have to remove the units once the program ends,” she said.
The Kilohana group housing site is a FEMA-led effort and consists of 167 modular units on 34 acres of state-owned land in Lahaina. The Maui News/Megan Moseley photo
Pelaez said when FEMA engages in disaster relief housing missions, they often have to return the site to its pre-use conditions.
“That includes the infrastructure that we put in, and includes the units themselves. That said, we try to find opportunities that could be beneficial for the local jurisdiction and ourselves,” he said.
So when they first started the project in Lahaina, they decided to do things a little differently.
Having never worked on a housing project quite like the one at Kilohana, Pelaez said they had to develop the homes in a way that would make sense to Hawai’i “given the distance from the continental U.S., the lack of affordable housing and rental options here.”
“So these units are unique,” he said. “We’ve never done these types of units.”
He said that during the planning stages, local leadership made it clear to them that what they build should benefit the long-term recovery process, and help to solve the greater, affordable housing crisis on the island.
“What we’re doing here is that we’re ensuring that these units meet all the local requirements such that even though our time here is maybe temporary, these units could be potentially repurposed as permanent housing,” he said.
This image shows the inside of one of the temporary units at the Kilohana group housing site in Lahaina. The Maui News/Megan Moseley photo
The team also worked to provide supportive infrastructure, such as a permanent sewer line with new laterals coming off the line and up Fleming Road, so that the Wahikuli neighborhood could tap into it.
“That said, I think it’s too soon to know for certain what’s going to happen to Kilohana,” he added. “This is state land and we have a three-year lease with them with the option to extend.”
Pelaez said he hopes there will be more discussions about the effort down the road.
“I think it’s going to be a little bit more further discussion with the state and the county to try and figure out what the long-term vision is and what their appetite for handover and purchasing of these units is,” he said.
Monemzadeh said those moving into the Kilohana units include a mix of homeowners and renters. First prioritized were the families staying in hotels, she said, and representatives are currently contacting households that are in direct-lease units outside of West Maui to bring them back to the area.
“It’s a way to bring people back into the community,” she said.
Each unit will be furnished with basic furniture including a bed, bedside table, dining table and chairs. The modular units have been built to last about 30 years.
To learn more about the housing efforts at Kilohana, visit fema.gov/fact-sheet/kilohana-temporary-group-housing-site.
The Kilohana temporary group housing site includes furnished prefabricated units in a one-, two- or three-bedroom layout for Lahaina wildfire survivors. The Maui News/Megan Moseley photo