OHA in ‘very exploratory’ talks to create short-term housing for homeless in Kakaako

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a major landowner around the Kakaako homeless encampment, is in talks with state and city officials about using one or two of its Kakaako properties to create short-term housing that could potentially accommodate all of the estimated 300 homeless occupants.

Kamana’opono Crabbe, OHA’s CEO, emphasized to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that discussions that began in mid-July with the offices of Gov. David Ige, Mayor Kirk Caldwell and City Council Chairman Ernie Martin are "very exploratory." Crabbe said no dollar amounts have been discussed about how much OHA would want to be compensated to use either of its two parcels along Forrest Avenue, on the Ewa end of the encampment.

But in one scenario, OHA could move the estimated 250 homeless people out of the Next Step Shelter, a warehouse that sits on OHA’s 5.2-acre "Lot L" property by the entrance to Pier 1.

Next Step currently uses only about 30,000 square feet of the 70,000 square feet in the warehouse, according to OHA spokesman Garett Kamemoto.

The remaining space could then be refurbished to create room for 500 people.

"You’re looking at big numbers," Crabbe said.

The Next Step renovations could also include partitioned spaces for all of the families currently living in the Kakaako encampment, Crabbe said.

The relocated Next Step occupants would then move to a temporary, pop-up "sprung shelter" on OHA’s "Lot I" property just mauka of Next Step on Forrest Avenue "to separate the chronic homeless from children," Crabbe said.

The city currently leases approximately 70,000 square feet of the 3.3-acre Lot I as a staging area.

In a second scenario, Next Step would remain as is, and a new shelter could go up on Lot I to house up to 250 people from the Kakaako encampment.

"The discussions have been more on the mechanics side," Crabbe said. "How would we execute moving 250, 500 people into a warehouse and by when? What’s the time frame? We would need to improve the infrastructure and carve out space for families."

But if the talks get closer to reality, Crabbe said OHA "would like fair market rent value, of course. It’s valuable property. We’re very open to options negotiating either rent. If it’s short-term we can reach a very fair business arrangement. If it’s long-term, it would necessitate long-term discussions about the ground lease."

Representatives for Ige and Caldwell were not available for comment on Friday, a state holiday.

But Crabbe said Caldwell’s office has expressed reservations about the Lot I site because of sewer odors.

The Kakaako encampment grew over the past several months, in part, as the city’s "sit-lie" ban continues to force homeless people out of economic centers such as Waikiki, downtown and Chinatown. The encampment has become a major health and safety issue — brought to light largely after state Rep. Tom Brower (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana-Kakaako) was attacked June 29 while photographing the wood-reinforced tarps and tents that wind around the University of Hawaii medical school and Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center.

A survey of the Kakaako homeless population conducted the week of Aug. 3 found 293 people living in the encampment.

An overwhelming 78 percent of the occupants were willing to move into a shelter. But at an Aug. 17 news conference announcing the numbers, Ige said "there is virtually no shelter space for families" anywhere on Oahu.

The survey also found that almost half of the occupants — 124 people — belonged to 31 families.

Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, told the Star-Advertiser that "the presence of children in the encampment is a crisis that needs to be addressed," adding that "it has to be our No. 1 priority."

The survey also found that an unspecified majority of the homeless people in Kakaako are Native Hawaiians or Pacific islanders.

Even though OHA is tasked with helping Native Hawaiians, Crabbe said OHA is committed to helping homeless people of all ethnicities.

"Whether they’re Native Hawaiian, Polynesian, Micronesian or Caucasian, we really need to have a compassionate heart for them to get them back on their feet," Crabbe said. "We all have a responsibility to be helping the homeless. We take our role as a landowner seriously and this matter of homeless is a priority to help do what we can to improve their lives."

Kamehameha Schools also owns land around the encampment but all of it is currently leased, spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said.

Kamehameha Schools has not been involved in any discussions with state or city officials about using its land to relocate the homeless in Kakaako, Paulsen said.

"We don’t have open land that would be readily or easily available," he said. "We certainly don’t have anything existing on our property now — no housing or structures that are usable for shelters. So we haven’t had the conversation."

But, Paulsen said: "We want to be part of that conversation, especially in regards to families and the education of children. We understand there’s an issue there just like everybody else. It’s not just Kakaako. This is something that affects the entire state."

In meetings last week with Hawaii officials and social service providers, Doherty emphasized that homeless shelters do not represent a long-term solution.

Shelters, he said, should only be considered "short-term intervention."