The Hilo-based Hawaii Island Community Development Corp. (HICDC) has received a 282-acre gift of land from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne Benioff, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports.

HICDC will construct an initial 43-unit Self Help Affordable Housing project on the land, which is intended solely for residential use by low- and moderate-income households. In addition, the gift includes $7 million to facilitate site planning and infrastructure development. Since its founding almost 30 years ago, HICDC has developed nearly 900 affordable housing units on Hawaii Island, including working with over 380 self-help builders to complete their homes.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to create affordable housing for the community,” said HICDC executive director Keith Kato in a press release. “The need is huge in Waimea, with 30 percent of the community renting and 10 percent of those renters paying over 50 percent of their income for rent. That’s scary and simply not sustainable.”

“Keith Kato and the wonderful team at HICDC have been supporting families in Hawaii with affordable rentals for seniors and self-help housing for decades,” the Benioffs said in a joint statement. “We are so thankful for the work they do on behalf of this community that we have been blessed to be part of for many years, and we are happy to be able to support it in this way.”

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