‘Unique’ rentals nearly ready

Low-income apartments with ocean views don’t get built every day in Hono­lulu. Nearly 200, however, are just about finished in Kaka­ako and are getting ready for occupancy after 15 months of construction.

"This is unique," said Stanford Carr, a local developer who produced the 204-unit tower called Hale­kau­wila Place. "Ocean views with workforce rentals."

Carr led a media tour through the 19-story building Tuesday to showcase what in two weeks will become the newest place to live in Hono­lulu’s urban core and deliver affordable housing for low-income residents.

To be eligible to live at Hale­kau­wila Place, households may not earn more than 60 percent of Hono­lulu’s median family income, which equates to $40,260 for a single person or $57,480 for a couple with two children.

Monthly rents range from $956 for studios with about 400 square feet of living space to $1,389 for three-bedroom units as big as 1,511 square feet.

Carr said more than 1,000 rental applications have been received and are being reviewed to ensure applicants meet income and other requirements. Qualified applicants are being selected for apartments in the order they applied, and all the units are expected to be filled.

"We’re basically oversubscribed," Carr said.

The first tenants are expected to move in April 14 after a blessing and grand-opening ceremony Tuesday.

Ocean views could be obstructed somewhat in a few years by two more towers planned on adjacent sites, though Hale­kau­wila Place offers residents other amenities that include a planned computer lab and a community room with a kitchen, big-screen TVs, a pingpong table and walls on which kids can draw with dry-erase markers.

"This is going to be a fun room," Carr said. "Kids won’t get into trouble drawing on the walls."

Solar water heating and photovoltaic panels on the tower’s parking garage will help keep electricity bills down. Internet, Wi-Fi, TV and phone service come bundled for $60 a month. And some commercial space on the ground floor will be occupied by a hair salon, a wine and sake store and a retailer selling dog accessories. The parking garage is capped by five two-story apartments with lanais.

At Mother Waldron Park, which is next door, Carr plans to spend $550,000 to improve the park’s grass, irrigation system and volleyball and basketball courts. A second basketball court also will be added.

One artistic touch Carr added in the building are metal apartment number plates outside each door showing historic photos of Kaka­ako such as the Iron Works, Kawaiaha‘o Church and Coral Tuna Packers. Each floor features a different photo.

"There’s so much rich history in the Kaka­ako district," Carr said. "We’ve got 18 floors of history and stories of Kaka­ako."

In the laundry room, old photos of a bygone era of Kaka­ako are superimposed on an old street map showing Foundry Street that later became Hale­kau­wila Street and Kaka­ako Street that later became South Street.

Carr said he was proud to deliver the project, which he developed on state land provided by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp.

The agency selected Carr’s plan for Hale­kau­wila Place in early 2007 among four competing proposals to build affordable housing on the 1.25-acre site leased for 75 years at $1 a year.

Initially, construction was projected to start in 2008 but was delayed four years by financing difficulties brought on by the recession and financial market meltdown.

Carr ultimately paid for the $70 million project with a mix of short- and long-term financing that included $40 million in Hula Mae bonds, $28 million in federal and state low-income housing tax credits, a $26 million loan from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, a $17 million loan from the Hawaii Community Development Authority and a $16 million loan from Housing Finance.