By Staff Reports
(Honolulu)– Kevin Auger, director-designate for the City’s Department of Housing and Land Management, joined host Brandi Higa on the One O‘ahu Podcast on October 2, 2025, to discuss progress on combining Housing and Land Management into one unified department, upcoming solicitations for City properties, and projects in the pipeline.
The Department of Housing and Land Management
In April of this year, the City and County of Honolulu announced the launch of Department of Housing and Land Management (DHLM) after the Honolulu City Council approved the reorganization of four departments to manage with the City’s housing initiatives.
“One of the biggest changes that we’ve had over the last few months is just the way that we approach housing,” said Auger. “A cornerstone of our strategy that we presented to (City) Council was the use of public lands for development.”
DHLM features two major divisions, Housing Development Division and Housing Finance Division.
Solicitations for City properties
The mission of DHLM is to maximize the potential of City-owned lands through strategic planning, innovative partnerships, creative financing, and responsible stewardship.
“In our strategic plan we identified ten properties that were existing City properties, many of them on our books for decades and we were able to issue requests for qualifications (RFQs),” explained Auger. “Of the ten that we’ve identified, we’ve issued a request for qualification for eight of those properties.”
The goal is to deliver – through these City-owned lands:
- affordable, senior, workforce, and mixed-income housing;
- foster equitable housing opportunities; and
- promote sustainable development and conservation that enhance the quality of life for all Oʻahu residents.
What’s next?
DHLM is actively advancing a range of projects designed to expand housing opportunities, revitalize public lands, and strengthen Oʻahu’s communities.
“In the next few months, we’ll be focusing on completing these RFQs and getting our development contracts and ground leases completed with our development partners and building that financing pipeline and trying to find creative ways to finance those projects,” added Auger. He goes on to explain, “at the end of the day it’s about really rebuilding this platform.”
Explore projects currently in planning, design, or early development stages — and learn how DHLM is laying the foundation for a more affordable, livable future for our residents by visiting https://www.honolulu.gov/dhlm/