Charter school secures permanent Kona roots with purchase of West Hawai‘i Today building

Hawaiʻi Technology Academy has affirmed its long-term commitment to Kona families with the purchase of the West Hawaiʻi Today building at 75-5580 Kuakini Highway.

The $7.4 million purchase by Hawaiʻi Technology Academy Campus Development Corp. comes as the public charter school enters its third year as a tenant in the building. The property acquisition was financed by Raza Development Fund, its second loan to a Hawaiʻi charter school.

Under the current lease agreement, West Hawaiʻi Today is set to remain in the space through 2028. After that date, Hawaiʻi Technology Academy will triple its campus space, unlocking major opportunities to enhance its tuition-free educational programs, says Executive Director Matt Zitello.

“We remain committed to our small school culture,” Zitello says. “But this space gives us a blank canvas to design the kind of place where we know kids learn best. A huge part of Hawaiʻi Technology Academy is our hands-on, ʻāina-based approach, so we’ll be looking to create flexible indoor-outdoor spaces, collaborative labs, and dynamic areas that support career-based learning and student-driven projects.”

Hawaiʻi Technology Academy is Hawaiʻi’s largest public charter school, serving 2,400 K-12 students across four islands. Finding a permanent home in the heart of Kona is a milestone that transforms HTA from a temporary tenant into a permanent stakeholder in the West Hawaiʻi community.

Across the state, public charter schools face steep hurdles in finding and funding facilities. Unlike traditional Department of Education schools, they do not operate on state-provided campuses. Hawaiʻi Technology Academy’s Kona campus has felt the facility challenges acutely since opening in 2010 as a virtual program where students met with teachers in community spaces.

To bridge the facilities gap, school supporters formed the nonprofit Hawaiʻi Technology Academy Campus Development Corp. to navigate the complex real estate rules and financial pathways required to own rather than rent.

“As renters, we have to spend millions renovating facilities that are not our own,” Zitello notes. “Then a large part of our budget goes toward rent. By moving away from that, we can put more money directly where it belongs: toward our students’ education.”