HILO, Hawai'i — The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has awarded 300 homestead leases on the Big Island at the Villages of La'i 'Opua in Kealakehe.

Site work will begin in June, with work on the first 100 homes in Village 5 projected to begin in 2007. All of the homes are expected to be built by 2010. The leases were awarded on Saturday.

The new homes, on 6,000-square-foot lots, will be built next to the existing subdivision at the Villages of La'i 'Opua, on the hillside above Kealakehe High School and the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor.

"This is one of the department's master-planned communities that will enhance the quality of life for the entire area," Gov. Linda Lingle said in a press statement released Friday. "This is also a project that is welcomed because it will provide much-needed affordable housing for Hawai'i residents."

The leases were awarded under the department's Undivided Interest Award Program, which awards leases several years before the subdivision is completed. That gives lessees time to prepare to move and to qualify for a loan.