I haven't kept up with it recently, but my understanding is this project has been a big loss leader for him. He needs "volunteers" and donations to support the project and he hasn't been able to find a sustainable business model.
I know this guy. He's kind of a dirtbag. I'm friends with someone who worked at his hostel in Austin; he was in charge of various events and hanging out with the visitors, along with all the other hostel duties. After a few years of working for less than minimum wage (there was lots of unpaid overtime), he was denied a raise. This was in spite of the hostel turning a very healthy profit every year. He wised up and ended up getting a much better paying gig elsewhere.
He could probably get away with this at the hostel (which is in a popular city), but hiring people for minimum wage in the middle of nowhere is a different story.
He even gets featured in this video as basically always asking for more money. Turns out it's really hard to get construction supplies out to the middle of nowhere and he's progressively selling off more and more of the resources.
