Alaula Builders held its Hale Kaiola neighborhood home selection lottery last week with 40 Maui families selected via a livestreamed event.

The event, which was monitored by the county’s Department of Housing and Human Concerns, drew more than 120 virtual participants.

“For an affordable housing developer, this is the second-best day you can have,” said Alaula Builders Vice President of Development, Lawrence Carnicelli. “The best day is the day you get to hand families the keys to their new home.”

In a news release, the company said Hale Kaiola is the only 100 percent for-sale affordable housing neighborhood approved using the county’s workforce housing “fast-track” process. The project is in north Kihei and will consist of 40 duplex homes with a yard, starting at $395,000.

With the project already under construction, families will start moving in as soon as September; completion is slated for the end of the year.

Also in the works and to be presented to the Maui County Council are Kuikahi Village with 202 mixed-use homes in Wailuku and Hale Waipuilani with 28 infill homes in Kihei. Both are 100 percent workforce housing and will require Maui County residency to qualify.

Alaula Builders said it does not use government subsidies for its 100 percent workforce housing.

“We feel blessed to provide Maui residents quality affordable housing and not dip into the taxpayers’ pockets to do so,” said Doyle Betsill, president of Alaula, which is Hawaiian for “the light of early dawn.”

For this recent lottery, Alaula Builders waived the county’s bottom income requirements restricting some lower-income families in order to ensure more families could qualify.

For more information, visit Alaula.org.”