Hawaiʻi County recently held a blessing ceremony for construction of the Kukuiola Emergency Shelter and Assessment Center in Kailua-Kona.

The project will include 16 emergency shelter units, a manager’s unit, a 2,000-square-foot assessment center, community restroom facilities with showers, a 1,400-square-foot community center, and a shared kitchen.

Additionally, office space for case management services and resources will be provided, along with open areas for community-building activities. The center will also offer overnight parking for unsheltered individuals sleeping in vehicles.

The project integrates emergency shelter with access to wraparound services such as case management, behavioral health support, hygiene facilities, and pathways to permanent housing.

Located off Kealakehe Parkway and south of the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, the State-owned site is under Executive Order to the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation and leased to the County. Crews completed mass grading of the site and the access road, Alapono Place, in late 2024.

Phase 2 will add 50 permanent housing units with support services, and phase 3, currently in the master planning stage, is envisioned as multi-family housing, supported by a recent $400,000 State Transit-Oriented Development Program grant.

Construction of Kukuiola Emergency Shelter and Assessment Center is expected to take about 18 months. The work is supported by a $10 million federal grant.

Heartwood Pacific LLC submitted the lowest qualified bid of $13.99 million to construct the facility.

 

Photo credit: County of Hawaiʻi