Nearly $200 Million in a Year: Churches Were Among Hawaii’s Biggest Property Players in 2025

• Four real estate deals involving religious institutions in Hawaii were worth nearly $200 million in 2025.
• The Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu sold the land beneath the Kāhala Nui senior living community for $90 million.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints paid $60 million for the former Kamehameha Drive-In and Kam Swap Meet site near Pearlridge Center, and $20 million for 46 acres in Kahului, Maui.
• Grace Bible Church Pearlside bought the land beneath its church in ʻAiea for about $26 million.

Churches were among the biggest names in Hawaii’s commercial property market in 2025. Hawaiʻi Public Radio, carrying a report by Pacific Business News editor-in-chief Janis Magin, said religious institutions accounted for nearly $200 million across four real estate deals during the year.

The largest was a sale by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, which sold the land beneath the Kāhala Nui senior living facility for $90 million in January 2025. The report described it as one of Hawaii’s largest non-hotel real estate deals of the year.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent a combined $80 million on two properties. On Oʻahu it paid $60 million for the former Kamehameha Drive-In and Kam Swap Meet site near Pearlridge Center, which the report ranked as Hawaii’s fifth-largest commercial sale of 2025. On Maui it paid $20 million for a 46-acre parcel in Kahului, Maui’s largest commercial sale of the year. The church had previously announced plans to build temples on both islands.

The fourth deal was a purchase by Grace Bible Church Pearlside, which bought the land beneath its church in ʻAiea, Oʻahu, for about $26 million. The report did not include comments from the churches involved.

The Hawaii figures show churches acting on both sides of the market: one selling land it had long held beneath a senior community, others buying large sites for future buildings or to secure the ground under an existing church. For Jamaican congregations that lease the land their church stands on, the ʻAiea purchase is a reminder of the value of owning it outright when the chance comes. For church bodies holding land under other uses, a well-timed sale can release large sums. On an island where land is scarce, as in Jamaica, those decisions can shape communities for generations.

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