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Some low-income seniors got a dose of hopeful news this week, with Tuesday’s blessing of a new affordable rental apartment building, the Ainahau Vista II. The first tenants are expected early next month in the nine-story project in Waikiki near the Ala Wai Canal, which features 62 studio and one-bedroom units with monthly rents from $549 to $1,137.
Already, there are about 110 applicants for the units — clearly demonstrating the demand for housing for this project’s demographic: people age 55 or older who earn no more than 60 percent of Honolulu’s annual median income ($43,980 for a single person, $50,220 for a couple).
This $22 million project by nonprofit developer Hawaii Housing Development Corp. heavily leveraged government financing: some $10 million in federal and state tax credits sold to investors; $8 million from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. (HHFDC), a state agency; and
$1.5 million from two city programs.
It’s also somewhat encouraging to see that the low-income rents are to be maintained for 61 years, a condition of city-provided exemptions governing density, open space, parking and permit fees. It’s a length of time that is heartening — yet, one that needs vigilance, given the recent breaks in faith over affordability promises. Two unfolding situations spring to mind:
>> In Lahaina, Maui, the Front Street Apartments was proposed to remain affordable to low-income tenants for 50 years when it was built nearly 20 years ago. Aided by the state HHFDC, the same agency involved with Ainahau Vista II, Front Street Apartments received more than
$1.5 million; and since it opened in 2001, the project been assessed virtually no land and building taxes. The developer had received “fast track” approvals from the Maui County Council and exemptions from zoning requirements. Today, though, about 300 residents of the apartments are facing eviction due to an underway conversion to turn the building’s
142 units from low-income rentals into market-price ones.
>> In Kakaako, low-income elderly residents in the 76-unit Na Lei Hulu Kupuna project remain on edge after the project was sold by the state, which developed the project at 610 Cooke St., to local firm Mark Development Inc. Under his purchase agreement with the state’s Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA), company president Craig Watase is required to renovate the aging building. HCDA had not raised rents for years but also had not kept up with maintenance. Now, rent increases and a truncated rent-subsidy plan — from 15 years to a mere five years — have longtime tenants fearing eviction once the funding support runs out.
Clearly, the headiness at the launch of any affordable housing project is promising, and welcome. After all, these units are serving Hawaii’s people who could well be on the edge of homelessness — and low-income seniors are particularly vulnerable. Building the financial stack that enables affordable projects to come to fruition is complex and arduous — but necessary, and government must remain steadfast to provide shelter for its citizens.
The majority of affordable housing is needed for people who earn 80 percent of median income or lower. Our government, working with the private sector, has a fundamental role in helping to seed affordable housing and to see those obligations through for the long term. And that means for the agreed-upon 50 years or 61 years, not whittled down to a mere fraction of what was promised.
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