Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 12, 1 December 2006 — Kāhala 'mission' [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kāhala 'mission'

By as early as Ianuary, several Native Hawaiian families may be paying as little as $150 a month in rent for million-dollar homes on Kāhala Avenue, one of the richest neighborhoods in Hawai'i. In a project he calls "Kāhala Avenue Mission," eccentric Iapanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto told loeal media that he plans to rent nine of his more than 20 Kāhala properties for between $150 and $200 to Native Hawaiian families who have encountered financial hardships. Kawamoto told the Honoluhi Star-BuIIetin that he will be selecting niee, hardworking families who will invite many guests over to the homes. "I'm going to choose families with lots of friends," he said. "They're going to be like my family." In November, he identified four of the homes, all on the mauka side of Kāhala Avenue, and said he has already selected his first renters - a Native Hawaiian family of six. Kawamoto did not provide the details of his tenant-selection process. Some legal experts speculate

that Kawamoto's affordable housing program may be challenged in court because federal and state housing laws prohibit racial qualifications in rental application processes. For more infonnation, write to Kawamoto at P.O. Box 15547, Honolulu, HI 96830.

HūIūu Kū Mōnū students proctice for ū hōike at the school's old campus at the University of Hawūi'i af Mōnoa's Kamakakūokalani Cenfer for Hawaiian Studies - Photo: KWO Archive