Condo moves forward after ‘poor door’ rejected

A 41-story residential tower at Keeaumoku and Makaloa streets, which had been criticized for its so-called “poor door,” was given a thumbs-up Thursday by the City Council Zoning and Housing Committee.

The project, which has been amended to eliminate the separate entrances for affordable and market-rate units, is poised to receive final approval from the full City Council next week.

Resolution 17-333, granting an Interim Planned Development — Transit Project (IPD-T) permit to ProsPac Holdings Group LLC, is now expected to be up for a final vote Wednesday.

The committee held up the 428-unit project at its Dec. 6 meeting amid public outcry about its plan for separate entrances — one for its planned 78 “affordable” rental units aimed at those making no more than 80 percent of area median income, the other for those living in the market units.

Buildings with so-called “poor doors” have raised objections in other major cities including New York, where Mayor Bill de Blasio has made it a policy to bar developers receiving tax breaks from putting up separate entrances for affordable units.

The original ProsPac plan called for those in affordable units to access their units through an entrance along Makaloa Street, while the entrance for the market-priced units was to be along Keeaumoku Street. Both entrances will now be accessible and connected through two shared lobbies.

“There will be full and equal access for all residents,” said project planner Keith Kurahashi of R.M. Towill Corp.

The IPD-T permit allows ProsPac to build up to 400 feet, instead of the usual 250 feet, because it is near the planned Ala Moana rail station. The permit also allows building square footage that’s four times what is currently allowed on the lot.

Most of the affordable units will be studios with living spaces of between 248 and 467 square feet. The 80 percent area median income category, as defined by federal housing guidelines, equates to no more than $58,600 for a single person, $67,000 for a couple and $83,700 for a family of four. Maximum rents are estimated to be about $1,500 a month. ProsPac is required to keep the units affordable for at least 30 years.

Kurahashi said plans call for sales to begin about the middle of this year, construction to start in early 2019 and completion in 2021.

The ProsPac project is one of no less than half a dozen residential towers slated for the Kapiolani-Ala Moana region and the first to sit on Keeaumoku Street, the main artery into Ala Moana Center.

City officials say the projects and the upcoming 20-mile rail line will benefit each other.