LDS Church plans affordable-housing complex in Hawaii

HONOLULU — The business arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hawaii plans to build some 550 affordable homes in an Oahu North Shore area where 90 percent of residents are church members.

Hawaii Reserves Inc. has been planning the single- and multifamily development since it bought the land between Kahuku and Laie for about $10 million two years ago from the Campbell Estate.

Hawaii Reserves owns or manages about 7,000 acres for the church around Laie, where the church has had a temple since 1919. The church, which also operates Brigham Young University-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center, purchased most of the land in 1865 after the church sent missionaries to the islands.

The majority of the homes in the Malaekahana Master Planned Community will be priced for local residents who work in the Laie area, according to the company's Web site.

Many families have had to move away in recent years because of a lack of affordable housing.

"There's not an empty lot in Laie," said BYU-Hawaii housing director John Elkington, who has lived in the town for 34 years and owns his home. "I have family and children that would like to live in the community."

Hawaii Reserves solicited community comment on its plans earlier this year through a survey and town meeting, and the results of those are being incorporated into the draft development plan, according to the Web site.

The general response from most residents was a desire for a planned, affordable community, with more shopping, an elementary school and parks, Elkington said.

The community would also like to see the homes be for the existing work force, he said. Hawaii Reserves is considering giving priority to employees of the university, the cultural center and other church entities, he said.

"We don't want investors coming in and buying and selling," he said. "You would keep the property in the hands of those who live here."

The homes could be sold on land leased from Hawaii Reserves, which would reduce the home prices for buyers and give the church long-term control of the property.

Obtaining the necessary permits and land zoning would put the project on a five-year track for completion.

"A lot of people get frustrated by the time it takes to do this," Elkington said. "It's a slow process. I feel very good about the future of Laie."