Our Kakaʻako · Honolulu

Kahuina

Two residential towers, Lamaku and Mamalu, at 450 Cooke Street — a mixed-income community by Stanford Carr Development within Kamehameha Schools’ Our Kakaʻako master plan, with 396 homes set aside as HHFDC affordable housing.

Kahuina — a crossroads; the place where paths meet.

Now Selling — First Come, First Served

Kahuina is one of the few chances to buy new, state-qualified affordable housing in the middle of Kakaʻako. It sits on a full block behind Kaliʻu, bounded by Auahi, Coral, Cooke and Pohukaina Streets, a short walk from SALT at Our Kakaʻako — the part of town where most new inventory is priced well beyond local households. Here, 396 residences are reserved for Hawaiʻi buyers under HHFDC income limits, with a further 27 released under the state’s DEP program for workers in professions facing labor shortages.

Kahuina towers aerial rendering at sunrise, Kakaʻako

Renderings courtesy of the developer. Conceptual and subject to change.

The way it sells is the story. Kahuina is first come, first served — there is no lottery to wait on. The buyers who get the home they want are the ones whose paperwork is ready first, and the slowest piece of that paperwork is a prequalification letter from one of the project’s designated lenders. If you are considering an affordable residence here, start that step now.

The project is being developed by Stanford Carr Development on Kamehameha Schools land as part of the Our Kakaʻako master plan. Homes range from studios to three bedrooms, plus a small number of live/work lofts, split across the Lamaku and Mamalu towers.

Kahuina at a Glance

396

Affordable (HHFDC)

DEP program homes

Towers: Lamaku and Mamalu

≤140%

AMI, affordable homes

Total down payment, HHFDC

FCFS

First come, first served

Affordable and Market: Two Different Purchases

Kahuina sells HHFDC affordable residences and market-rate residences side by side in the same towers. They are not the same purchase at different prices. An affordable residence comes with income qualification going in and restrictions on how you sell going out, and those restrictions run for years. Knowing which one you are buying is the most important thing on this page.

	Affordable (HHFDC)	Market
Home types	1, 2 and 3 bedrooms	Studio to 3 bedrooms, lofts
Income limits	Yes — up to 140% AMI	None
First-time buyer rule	Applies	None
Owner-occupancy required	Yes	Confirm terms
HHFDC buy-back program	10 years	None
Shared Appreciation Equity	Applies	None
Prequalification	Kahuina project lender	Any lender
Sales system	First come, first served	First come, first served

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Where the affordable homes are

Lamaku Tower

120 one-bedroom residences

Mamalu Tower

69 one-bedroom residences
184 two-bedroom residences
23 three-bedroom residences

If you need two or three bedrooms under the affordable program, every one of those homes is in Mamalu.

Income limits

Affordable eligibility is measured against the Area Median Income for Honolulu County and varies by household size. HHFDC revises those figures periodically, so we do not publish a table here — a stale income chart is worse than no chart, because it can talk a qualified buyer out of applying. Tell us your household size and we will send you the limits in force today.

On Shared Appreciation Equity and the buy-back. These are the two provisions that surprise people. HHFDC’s buy-back program keeps an affordable residence affordable for 10 years, with owner occupancy required throughout. Separately, Shared Appreciation Equity gives HHFDC a share of future appreciation: the percentage is set before closing, is payable on resale, and can be paid off any time after closing. Neither is a reason to avoid an affordable residence — for most buyers in this income band it is still the best path to owning in town. But it does mean the home is not a straightforward appreciating asset. We will walk you through the actual terms on the actual unit.

The DEP Program: 27 Additional Homes

Alongside the HHFDC release, Kahuina has made 27 one- and two-bedroom residences available under the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund Equity Pilot program — DEP. The program is aimed at people working in professions the state has identified as facing labor shortages, and it is a separate track from the standard HHFDC affordable homes with its own qualification rules.

With only 27 homes, DEP is the smallest and fastest-moving part of the project. If you work in healthcare, education, public safety or another field where Hawaiʻi is short of workers, ask us to check whether your profession qualifies before you assume either way.

The Residences

Kahuina is two towers sharing one site. Lamaku and Mamalu offer different mixes of homes, and which tower you are in determines your outlook and, for affordable buyers, which floor plans are available to you at all.

Lamaku

Every affordable residence in Lamaku is a one-bedroom
Market residences also offered

Mamalu

One-, two- and three-bedroom affordable residences
Market residences also offered

Live/work lofts

Twelve loft residences are designed to let an owner run a business and live in the same space. There are very few of them, and they tend to attract a specific buyer — if that is you, say so early.

Floor plans, square footages, finish schedules, unit mix by floor, parking allocations and maintenance fee estimates are established by the developer and are subject to change until stated in the Developer’s Public Report and your executed purchase contract. Ask us for the current plan set for any residence you are considering.

Request Plans & Availability

Amenities

The two towers share a recreation deck set above the parking levels, with street-level commercial space below that is planned to bring shops and dining onto the block itself.

Resident Amenities

Pool on a shared amenity deck
Fitness center
Barbecue areas
Social rooms and gathering spaces

On the Block

Ground-floor commercial and retail space
Structured parking shared by both towers
Full-block site within the Our Kakaʻako master plan

Amenity programming is drawn from the developer’s published plans and remains subject to change through construction. Ask us for the current amenity plan and the association budget that supports it.

The Site & Neighborhood

Kahuina occupies the block bounded by Auahi, Coral, Cooke and Pohukaina Streets, directly behind Kaliʻu in Kamehameha Schools’ Our Kakaʻako. This is walkable town living: grocery, dining and the SALT shops on foot, with Ward Village, Ala Moana and downtown a few minutes away.

Nearby

SALT at Our Kakaʻako
Down to Earth and H Mart
Mother Waldron Park
Ward Village shops and dining
Ala Moana Center and Ala Moana Beach Park
Downtown Honolulu

Worth Knowing

Our Kakaʻako is still being built out — expect ongoing construction on surrounding blocks for some time
Orientation matters: views and street exposure vary considerably by tower and floor
Kakaʻako has a lot of new inventory, which gives you real pricing comparisons for the market residences

Where the Project Stands

Market sales — market-rate residences released first, on a first-come, first-served basis.
HHFDC release — the 396 affordable residences opened to qualified Hawaiʻi buyers, also first come, first served.
DEP release — 27 residences made available under the DEP program for professions facing labor shortages.
Currently — sales underway. Remaining inventory changes as contracts are written and released.

We do not publish a completion date or price list on this page. Kahuina’s construction schedule has been quoted with several different years, remaining inventory moves constantly under a first-come, first-served system, and affordable pricing is tied to income tiers that get republished. Anything you read online about this project is likely out of date, including anything you read here more than a few weeks after we wrote it. Ask us and we will pull what is current.

Request Current Pricing & Availability

First Come, First Served: How to Prepare Now

Under a first-come, first-served release, speed is decided by preparation, not by the day you show up. The prequalification letter is the step that takes longest, so start there.

Financing & Deposits

Prequalification letter must come from a Kahuina project lender — these lenders are trained in HHFDC qualification
At closing you may use any lender of your choice
Initial deposit: $1,000
Second deposit: 5% less $1,000, within 30 days
Total down payment: 5%

Documents to Gather

HHFDC application packet
Prequalification letter from a Kahuina project lender
Most recent federal and state tax returns, signed and dated
Most recent W-2s and 1099s
Two months of pay stubs
- Weekly: 10 stubs
- Bi-weekly: 6 stubs
- Bi-monthly: 4 stubs
Additional documentation depending on your circumstances

Self-employed, or a less common income picture? Reach out early. These files take longer to qualify, and under first come, first served the time matters.

Buying at Kahuina

The affordable side of this project runs on state program rules rather than ordinary real estate practice, and the paperwork is unforgiving about deadlines. These are the points that matter most.

Which category you are buying — settle this first. HHFDC affordable, DEP and market residences at Kahuina are different products with different obligations.
HHFDC eligibility — affordable purchasers must be a first-time homebuyer or qualified resident, a US citizen or permanent resident, at least 18, intending to live in the home as a primary residence, without a majority interest in other residential property, within the 140% AMI income limit, with sufficient income and assets to qualify and a demonstrated housing need under state guidelines. Do not assume you are ineligible without checking — and do not assume you qualify without confirming.
Owner occupancy — affordable residences require genuine occupancy as your primary residence for the full restriction period. Read the occupancy documents with your own attorney.
Buy-back and Shared Appreciation Equity — get the specific terms attached to the specific unit in writing, including the SAE percentage, what triggers the buy-back, and how and when the SAE can be paid off.
The Developer’s Public Report — governs the sale: unit descriptions, common and limited common elements, the association budget, use restrictions and the developer’s reserved rights. Read it before you write.
Thirty-day cancellation right — Hawaiʻi condominium law affords 30 days from delivery of the developer’s report and project documents to cancel, with the deposit refunded less escrow cancellation costs up to $250.
Thirty-day arbitration election — separately, you generally have 30 days from the date of the sales agreement to elect out of its arbitration provisions and class action waiver. Both bind if the window passes.
Financing at delivery — your loan is underwritten near closing rather than today. Affordable units carry additional lender requirements tied to the program restrictions.
Carrying costs — maintenance fees at delivery are developer estimates and tend to increase over time. Give the association budget a genuine read.
Delivery — your orientation walkthrough precedes closing. Understand your remedies if completion does not occur by the outside date stated in your sales agreement.

Engage representation before your first visit to the showroom. Developer sales offices commonly require that your agent register you or accompany you on that first visit, and representation is difficult to add afterward for that purchase. Everyone at the showroom works for the developer. Ours is the only duty at the table that runs to you — and it costs you nothing to have it there. We have walked buyers through HHFDC affordable applications before; under first come, first served, having someone in your corner genuinely changes outcomes.

Project Details

Developer: Stanford Carr Development
Master plan: Kamehameha Schools’ Our Kakaʻako
Address: 450 Cooke Street, Kakaʻako, Honolulu
Site: Full block bounded by Auahi, Coral, Cooke and Pohukaina Streets
Towers: Lamaku and Mamalu

Home types: Studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom residences plus 12 live/work lofts
Affordable: 396 residences under HHFDC, up to 140% AMI
DEP: 27 residences
Sales system: First come, first served
Status: Now selling

Talk to Us About Kahuina

We will tell you which category you are eligible for, connect you with a Kahuina project lender for prequalification, help you assemble your documents, pull current availability and pricing, and walk you through the buy-back and Shared Appreciation Equity terms. Please connect with us before your first visit to the showroom.

Joanna Nakama

Realtor® RS-84513

Call or text (808) 722-8449

Melissa Hoyer

Realtor® RS-84772

Call or text (808) 728-0648

Know someone who might qualify? Please share this page with friends, family or fellow agents.

New to buying in Hawaiʻi? Start with our Home Buying Guide →

Kahuina is developed by Stanford Carr Development within Kamehameha Schools’ Our Kakaʻako master plan; Hawaii Starts Here and its agents are not the developer and do not represent the developer. All real estate licensees employed by or associated with the developer’s sales office represent the developer. Illustrations and renderings are conceptual and may differ from actual improvements when constructed. Residence counts, unit mix, home types, floor plans, square footages, parking allocations, amenity descriptions, commercial space, design elements, finishes, maintenance fee estimates and completion timelines are approximate, are drawn from developer announcements, public agency materials and published project materials, and are subject to change; the developer reserves the right to modify plans, square footages, specifications, features, materials, options, colors, finishes and landscaping at any time without notice or obligation. Pricing is established by the developer, varies by residence, and is subject to change without notice; affordable pricing is additionally tied to income tiers established by the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation and is revised periodically. Income limits are established and revised by HHFDC and must be confirmed directly with the agency. Deposit amounts and timing, prequalification requirements and required documents are set by the developer, its designated lenders and HHFDC and are subject to change. Estimated completion dates are projections and are not guaranteed; your remedies if completion does not occur by the outside date are governed by your sales agreement. Affordable residences are offered under HHFDC program rules and are subject to eligibility and household income requirements, owner-occupancy obligations, buy-back provisions and Shared Appreciation Equity provisions; residences offered under the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund Equity Pilot (DEP) program are subject to that program’s separate eligibility rules; all program terms are established by HHFDC and the applicable program documents, are subject to change, and must be confirmed directly with the agency and reviewed with your own attorney before you sign. Eligibility for any state equity assistance or down payment program is determined solely by the administering agency and is subject to funding availability. Unit descriptions, common and limited common elements, association budgets, maintenance fee estimates, use and transfer restrictions, leasing and rental provisions, and the developer’s reserved rights are governed by the Developer’s Public Report for the project, which has not been prepared or issued by the Hawaiʻi Real Estate Commission; the issuance of an effective date does not constitute approval of the project. Maintenance fees are developer estimates, are difficult to estimate initially, and tend to increase over time. Cancellation rights, arbitration election rights, deposit handling, financing terms and contingency terms are established by the sales agreement and applicable law and are subject to change — review all documents with your own legal advisor. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice. Nothing on this page is an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy where prohibited by law. See the developer’s official sales materials and the Developer’s Public Report for complete and current details.