What's Happening with Hawaiian Homelands; Waiting Lists, Blood Quantum, New Ventures, and More

Talk Story with Keli'i Akina, Feb 3, 2026

The Hawaiian Homelands program has faced both challenges and opportunities throughout its history. What's happening now under its newest leader? Is there a renewed hope for future progress?

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New Hope for Hawaiian Homelands – My Conversation with Kali Watson

by OHA Trustee Keli‘i Akina, Ka Wai Ola, March 1, 2026

For decades, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) has faced well-known challenges in delivering homesteads to Native Hawaiian families. Now, it appears that new funding and different ways of building communities are opening the door to moving homestead delivery forward at a scale we haven’t seen before.

I recently spoke with DHHL Chairman Kali Watson to better understand what is changing and what beneficiaries can expect in the years ahead.

One of the first questions I asked him was what allowed DHHL to award thousands of homesteads in recent years after decades of slow progress. Watson explained that the department is now taking a completely different approach. Instead of awarding homes one at a time, DHHL is issuing project leases upfront, allowing beneficiaries to select a lot before securing financing. Homes are then built in ways that match each family’s financial situation. The goal, he told me, is to give families of all income levels the option of homeownership.

To bring Hawaiians back to Hawaiʻi, Watson emphasized that creating innovative solutions was necessary. He shared that DHHL has begun developing rental housing projects, largely because rental models allow the department to access federal funding otherwise unavailable.

When I probed further about why DHHL started rental projects, Watson pointed out that they’re not meant to be permanent rentals. Instead, they’re designed as rent-with-option-to-purchase communities, allowing families to build equity while renting and to eventually buy their homes. This gives families the chance to build generational wealth instead of remaining long-term renters.

As we continued talking, Watson stressed that homes alone do not make for thriving communities. Families also need access to schools, clinics, cultural spaces, and other services.

He pointed to partnerships with organizations to help create neighborhoods that integrate education, healthcare, cultural resources, and economic opportunities. The idea, he said, is to ensure families are not pushed into isolated subdivisions far from jobs and essential services.

Another topic we discussed was how DHHL plans to sustain these efforts over the long term. Watson shared that the department is now working to generate revenue from portions of its land inventory rather than relying solely on legislative funding. Plans include commercial and industrial developments that can generate income to reinvest in housing and infrastructure.

Despite these changes, Watson acknowledged that there is still much work to be done. More than 29,000 beneficiaries remain on the waitlist, and demand continues to grow. Still, with new funding in place and fresh momentum around land development, and program reforms, DHHL may be entering a period of unprecedented activity.

He also notes that placing beneficiaries into homestead housing benefits Hawaiʻi as a whole, freeing up rental housing currently occupied by beneficiaries waiting for leases.

For many families, the wait to come home may finally be nearing an end.