Maui County seeks $50M Front Street buyouts

Maui County is moving ahead with a plan to buy some of Lahaina’s most exposed oceanfront properties rather than push all of them through a difficult rebuilding process. The county’s Office of Recovery says it has set aside $50 million for a voluntary mitigation buyout program focused on high-risk parcels on the makai side of Front Street. The program sits alongside the broader Hoʻokumu Hou recovery effort, which is funded through the county’s $1.6 billion federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery allocation. County materials say the goal is to reduce future risk to life and property while reshaping some of the shoreline for long-term resilience. ### Which properties is Maui County trying to buy? The county’s Strategic Voluntary Mitigation Buyout Program is limited to properties that meet a narrow set of conditions. Official program language says eligible parcels must be in high-risk areas that were directly impacted by the 2023 disaster, sit on the makai — or ocean — side of Front Street, be direct shoreline properties, and fall fully within Lahaina Historic Districts 1 or 2. (hookumuhou.mauicounty.gov) The $50 million allocation appears designed for a selective program, not a districtwide acquisition. County materials say purchase amounts would be based on post-disaster fair market value and federal requirements, and participation is voluntary. After acquisition, the county says it could remove structures and convert sites to open space, greenways, parks, stormwater features or natural buffers. (hookumuhou.mauicounty.gov) ### Why are these Front Street parcels being treated differently? Front Street’s shoreline edge has become one of the hardest parts of Lahaina to rebuild. Maui County’s recovery planning documents say the commercial core rebuild includes “re-envisioning the future of Front Street” and considering how shoreline areas in the pre-disaster commercial district should be repurposed. (hookumuhou.mauicounty.gov) Earlier reporting by Maui Now said owners on the makai side of Front Street face a longer and more complex permitting path than owners on the mauka side because they are not exempt from shoreline and special management area rules. The same report quoted Office of Recovery Administrator John Smith saying it would make sense to turn properties that are difficult to develop into public open space, while stressing that the county would not use eminent domain. (mauirecovers.org) ### How does this fit into the larger Lahaina rebuild? The county is not treating the buyouts as a stand-alone land deal. The Ho‘okumu Hou site says the program is part of Maui County’s disaster-recovery portfolio funded by the $1.6 billion federal CDBG-DR award tied to the 2023 Maui wildfires. The county’s document library says its most recent action plan was approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on June 3, 2026, and a later substantial amendment was submitted to HUD on July 14, 2026. (mauinow.com) Civil Beat reported in February that Mayor Richard Bissen’s administration proposed funding the buyouts by reallocating $50 million from other hazard-mitigation projects. Bissen told the outlet at the time that the money would come from mitigation funds, not housing funds. ### What changed this week for homeowners rebuilding elsewhere? (hookumuhou.mauicounty.gov) On August 5, the County of Maui said more homeowners may now qualify for Hoʻokumu Hou reconstruction and reimbursement assistance after updated federal income limits raised eligibility thresholds. The Office of Recovery said the application deadline for those programs was extended through Dec. 31, 2026. (civilbeat.org) The county said Maui County’s base area median income rose to $121,400 in May 2026 from $110,000, lifting eligibility limits for households of all sizes. Under the current rules, the single-family reconstruction program offers up to $1.2 million, while the reimbursement program offers up to $400,000, both for households earning up to 140% of area median income. (hookumuhou.mauicounty.gov) ### What happens next for owners weighing a sale or a rebuild? The County of Maui has not said how many Front Street parcels it expects to acquire, but it has laid out the next near-term dates for applicants. The Office of Recovery said it will hold a “Meet Our General Contractor” open house on Aug. 20, 2026, at the Kākoʻo Maui Relief & Aid Services Center in Kahului, where staff will answer questions about eligibility, application requirements and rebuilding steps. (hookumuhou.mauicounty.gov) The current application deadline for the expanded Hoʻokumu Hou homeowner programs is Dec. 31, 2026.