I was saddened by the way Civil Beat’s article, “Developer Wants To Use Hawaiian Home Lands Powers To Skirt Zoning Rules,” portrayed our project.

What should have been recognized as a community-driven solution — rooted in law, kuleana, and the legacy of Prince Kūhiō — was instead framed as something suspect.

The reaction in the comments on the story speaks for itself. This kind of framing distorts public understanding and undermines trust in Native Hawaiian-led initiatives.

At a time when thousands remain on the waitlist and kūpuna age without support, we cannot afford to turn progress into controversy. We should be moving forward together.


As a Native Hawaiian beneficiary and president of Kalanianaʻole Development — a company I majority-own — I’ve been on the waitlist for 25 years. That’s a full generation.

By stepping into this role, I am fulfilling one of the core purposes of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act: to restore Native Hawaiians to the land and empower us to shape our futures. I am not exploiting a loophole. I am fulfilling kuleana our kūpuna fought to protect.

Honoring The Aliʻi

It must be stated plainly: the HHCA was never limited to homesteading alone. It authorizes residential, agricultural, pastoral, and commercial uses of trust land — including income-generating development — to support Native Hawaiian well-being. The goal is not simply land occupancy, but lasting self-sufficiency.

That’s why I named my company Kalanianaʻole Development — to honor the aliʻi whose vision went beyond lot awards and aimed to create opportunity, dignity and security for our people. Our project, Prince Kūhiō Gateway, is a continuation of that vision.

Section 207(c)(1)(B) of the HHCA explicitly authorizes economic development on Hawaiian Home Lands. Congress granted DHHL — and by extension, its beneficiaries — the authority to generate revenue through land use.

This is not a workaround. It’s a legal, strategic tool intended to advance the trust’s mission.
DHHL is not a housing agency. The HHCA is not merely a housing program. It is a federally recognized trust with a duty to promote self-determination through diverse, community-serving land uses — including housing, agriculture, commerce, and culture.
Importantly, Prince Kūhiō Gateway comes at no cost to DHHL.

I am privately acquiring and donating the land, thereby increasing trust inventory and delivering a long-term income-generating asset. This project does not replace homesteading — it helps fund the infrastructure and services our communities need to thrive.

Everything is being done transparently and in partnership with DHHL. If this same model were proposed by a non-Hawaiian developer, it would likely be called “visionary.”

When a Native Hawaiian activates the same legal pathway, it’s called “circumventing.” That contradiction reveals the very injustice the HHCA was created to correct.
We have strong support from homesteaders in Kauluokahai, Kaupeʻa, and Kanehili — people who understand this isn’t a detour from the mission. It’s a direct path forward.

I’m also working to educate other homestead communities on how to activate the full potential of the HHCA.
The greatest threat to our lāhui isn’t development — it’s delay. Every year of inaction is another year a kūpuna dies without ever seeing their land. Our people deserve more than promises. They deserve results.

This project is Native Hawaiian-led. Native Hawaiian-owned. Native Hawaiian-serving.

He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauwā ke kanaka.

The land is chief, and we are its servant.

That principle guides Prince Kūhiō Gateway — and it merits recognition, not suspicion.