Plan adds 151 affordable units

Two towers up to 23 stories would bring 151 affordable rental units for seniors in Chinatown under a plan outlined by city officials Tuesday.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced that his administration is negotiating a development agreement with the Michaels Development Co. giving the company a 65-year lease to develop and manage the Halewai‘olu project on about 24,000 square feet, or about half an acre, on River Street between Vineyard Boulevard and Kukui Street.

A plan by former Mayor Mufi Hannemann in the 1990s called for developing the site as a shelter and services center for the area’s chronically homeless. But that idea was shot down by strong community opposition.

Caldwell said affordable rentals for seniors was the suggested use from the Chinatown community through its lobbying efforts, as well as several resolutions by the City Council. But of the 25,000 new affordable housing units to meet Oahu’s demands, 80 percent of them need to be rentals that can be within reach of those making 80 percent of annual median income or less, the mayor said.

All 151 units at Hale­wai‘olu would be available only to those age 62 and older and making no more than 80 percent of median income — which, for a single person, is $53,700 annually. Prices would range from about $450 to $1,000 a month for a one-bedroom unit. Interstate Management Realty Co., part of the Michaels family of businesses, will manage the complex.

The mayor said the proposal also takes into consideration that the city has a limited amount of land that it both owns and controls. "I want to see this land used efficiently and effectively," he said.

Leaders of Lum Sai Ho Tong, the Chinese society that has its iconic headquarters on the property next door to the city site, played a key role in nixing the homeless shelter plan and also had voiced concerns that the senior housing project would be too big, too tall and too dense.

After joining about 30 other community leaders at a presentation by Michaels Development and architectural firm WRNS Studio prior to Tuesday’s news conference, society President Howard Lum said: "They’re willing to talk to us so that’s the main thing. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to work on all the concerns that we have."

City officials point out that the height limit for the area is 350 feet and the proposed towers will be no more than 250 feet.

Monika Mordasini, Michaels vice president, said a majority of the units will be available to those making 60 percent of median income or less — about $40,260.

The developer expects to finance the building largely through federal low-income housing grants. If successful, the company is expecting to obtain all of its grants and break ground next year, Mordasini said. The units would then come online in 2018, she said.

The plan unveiled Tuesday is only conceptual, and there is room for the community to weigh in on the final plan, Mordasini said. "We’re excited about working in partnership with the local community to further develop the conceptual idea of the Halewai‘olu project," she said.

Michaels Development is a national player in the affordable housing field, and its first foray in the Oahu market was the $135 million Kuhio Park Terrace redevelopment project.

Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, president of the Chinatown Business and Community Association and a member of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, said she especially likes the inclusion of a badly needed community center and that the developer upped the unit count from the 100 units first discussed.

After also playing a key role in shooting down the homeless shelter plan, Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, who represents Chinatown, acknowledged the concerns raised by the community. "There were some questions that have been raised, but I think there’s going to be a lot more dialogue in the days and weeks ahead," she said.

Michaels Development was one of two developers that submitted bids to the city.