The Varona Village Project is a public-private partnership between the City & County of Honolulu and private developer Savio/Hawaii Habitat Varona Village LLC. A promise made nearly 30 years ago when Oahu Sugar Company ceased business operations, the City has come full circle to fulfill their promise to the tenants of Varona Village: a promise that the tenants will have an opportunity to purchase their own home. As of Nov 2023, both the City and Developer have finalized the Agreement of Sale, which kicks-off the development of the Project. The Varona Village Project consists of 2 phases: Phase 1 is selling the units to existing tenants based on the pecking order. Approximately 46 units; Phase 2 consists of adding in new infrastructure (i.e. roadways, sewer, etc.) and constructing approximately 88 new homes. The Developer will undergo the CPR process, condominium property regime, which will allow the tenants and their families to purchase their respective units at the end of the process (Phase 1), and prepare for the development of Phase 2. The mission of the Developer is to make Varona Village an affordable project and keep the local community home.
Overview
PROJECT PHASES
The Project is broken down into 2 Phases: Phase 1 is sold to the current Tenants of Record and their families; Phase 2 is the construction of up to 88 new affordable residential homes and one community center.
PROGRESS REPORT UPDATE (APRIL 2025)
Developer and the City signed a Development Agreement when Developer agreed to undertake this Project. That Development Agreement contains many “action items” that are required to be completed, several of which require coordination with different City departments and agencies. Both the Developer and the City have been working diligently to move through these action items, including resolving complicated design and logistical issues concerning ingress and egress (roadways) and the realignment and development of Renton Road. Within the last several months, the City and Developer were able to come to a consensus on how to handle the final conditions (including Renton Road), which will allow Developer to move forward with the condominium process. We will keep you updated throughout the year.
CONCLUSION
A condominium is a form of real estate ownership where one or more parcels of land can be sold to many individual owners, where they can finance their apartment house lot with a separate loan. Basically, you own your lot just like any fee simple lot, but you also share responsibility for the common areas. In Varona, these include the roadways and all utility lines, which must be maintained by the owners since they are shared and used in common.