Owning and living in what is now part of the Pagoda Hotel is expected to become an opportunity in the next two or three weeks as a developer prepares to sell 162 units in a low-rise annex of the property in Pawaa as condominiums.
Local developer Peter Savio has priced fee-simple studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units from $123,480 to $274,950 at the Pagoda Terrace hotel annex being renamed Rycroft Terrace.
The condo conversion is part of a plan to deliver affordable housing that satisfies a requirement for Kamehameha Schools to produce moderate-income housing as part of its master plan to develop up to 2,750 homes in Kakaako.
The Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency governing development in Kakaako, approved the Pagoda Terrace conversion in 2012.
Rules in effect when HCDA approved the trust’s master plan in 2009 require that all affordable units be in Kakaako, a 450-acre area between Ala Moana Boulevard and King, Piikoi and Punchbowl streets. The Pagoda is about a half-mile from Kakaako’s mauka edge.
Under the agreement with HCDA, the 162 Pagoda units will count as 100 units of the trust’s requirement to produce 550 units affordable to moderate-income residents. The arrangement effectively will provide a bonus of 62 units and at prices affordable to some households with extremely low incomes.
Savio said he will give preference to prospective buyers who earn less, and that households earning as little as 30 percent of Honolulu’s median annual income — $20,150 for a single person or $28,750 for a family of four — can qualify.
The developer plans to qualify buyers with as little as a 5 percent down payment, and provide a $2,000 closing-cost credit to buyers who make less than 100 percent of the median income.
"We try to sell at the lowest possible price," Savio said.
Prices for Rycroft Terrace are in some cases less than half the $332,000 median price for all previously owned condos sold on Oahu last year.
Estimated monthly maintenance fees range from $231 to $559 in the five-story building, which was built in 1962 and has an elevator and a pool.
The least expensive units are studios with about 300 square feet of living space and nearby off-site parking available for rent at an additional cost. The largest units with two bedrooms include parking and range from 649 to 737 square feet.
Savio recently began some renovation work on Pagoda Terrace units — mainly new paint, flooring and appliances.
The work is expected to be completed in June or July. Sales are expected to close in September or October.
