KAILUA-KONA — HPM Building Supply last week announced plans to launch a new line of modular homes for Hawaii Island residents, “HalePlus,” that the company is calling a “fast, customizable and affordable option for homeownership.”
“We’re trying to make this as turn-key as possible,” HPM Building Supply CEO Jason Fujimoto said in an interview Friday, “where literally we’re delivering completed modules of the HalePlus unit that are finished as much as possible, that have appliances, that really can be lived in within a three-month timeframe from order to move-in.”
HPM Building Supply has its corporate office in Keaau and locations on this island, Oahu and Kauai.
The base model for HalePlus is still in the prototyping and finalization phases, HPM said, and is planned to be available to the public next year. HPM is aiming for a target price of about $100,000 for that base model, which would include basic home construction costs. More information is available at www.hpmhawaii.com/haleplus.
“It’s really a natural evolution for HPM as a company and really combines and leverages everything that we do as an organization,” Fujimoto said. “That’s why it’s just very, very exciting for us.”
HalePlus comes via a collaboration between HPM and contractor Gilbert Aguinaldo of Pacific Rim Construction.
Aguinaldo and HPM partnered last year in the wake of the eruption to build a series of microunits, based on a modified shed design offered through HPM, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pahoa for those who had been displaced from their homes.
After the village’s completion about a year ago, Fujimoto said, conversations turned to finding a permanent solution to addressing the local housing need.
Working with Aguinaldo, Fujimoto said, they honed in on a solution that is affordable while also modular, expandable and transportable.
The HalePlus line offers another tool to help address the serious need for housing in the state.
“Our population has been declining for two consecutive years now, and we really cannot afford to have more of our local community move away because they can’t afford to live here,” Fujimoto said.
The 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom base model is envisioned as a plantation-style home with a covered lanai.
The company also plans to make available HalePlus homes with optional configurations including additional bedrooms, home offices, expanded kitchens and extra storage.
The home’s adaptability also makes it an option for young families, who can start with a basic unit and build the home out as their family and needs grow.