Hawaii's agency for Native Hawaiians is moving ahead on a plan to build hundreds of new homes through a land deal with the state's homelands agency, even as it works through leadership turmoil from a departed CEO.

• The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) are teaming up to turn an OHA-owned lot in Kakaako Makai into roughly 500 homes for Native Hawaiians who are on the DHHL waiting list.
• The partnership came together after a bill that would have let OHA build its own housing failed to pass the legislature earlier this year; under the new plan, OHA keeps the commercial space like shops and restaurants while DHHL handles the housing.
• OHA's board is also picking a new chief executive, with a decision expected by mid-December, right as newly elected trustees — including former Honolulu City Council chair Ikaika Anderson — take their seats.
• The agency recently made public a lengthy investigative report, along with a summary, into its former CEO's conduct, an unusually transparent move for a state agency.
• Trustees also noted that Democrats taking control of both chambers of Congress could change how OHA lobbies the federal government going forward.

Outlook: The new OHA board is expected to finalize its CEO pick within weeks, while the Kakaako Makai housing project still needs more approvals before any building can start.