Kalaeloa rentals plan praised

Former military barracks at the old Barbers Point Naval Air Station might become affordable rental apartments as soon as April under a more than $10 million renovation plan detailed Tuesday at a public hearing.

An affiliate of Hunt Cos. is advancing the project with 100 one-bedroom units expected to rent for $1,300 a month as an initial piece of a master plan for about 540 acres the development firm is acquiring from the Navy at the former naval base in Kalaeloa.

On Tuesday, company officials presented details of the planned rental apartment conversion to the board of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency governing redevelopment in Kalaeloa.

Public testimony at the hearing was unanimously positive about transforming what is known as Building 77 from 204 vacant and vandalized studios with shared bathrooms into 500-square-foot, one-bedroom apartments reserved for residents who earn no more than 140 percent of Honolulu’s median income.

Blair Suzuki, Hawaii development manager for Texas-based Hunt, said the rental rate plus the cost of utilities is actually affordable under

federal guidelines to households earning as little as 80 percent of the median income, or $53,700 for a single person to $69,000 for a family of three.

Amenities in a renovated Building 77 would include fitness and recreation rooms, a barbecuearea and a lounge, Suzuki said. Parking for 157 cars also will be provided.

If HCDAapproves the project at a second public hearing scheduled for Sept. 9, Suzuki said renovation work could begin in October and be finished by April. Soliciting rental applications is expected to happen early next year.

The project was praised by various community leaders for providing badly needed affordable rentals and improving the image of Kalaeloa.

"It is an eyesore,"said Linda Painter, owner of a Subway store and bowling alley on the former base. Painter credited Hunt for cleaning up the area, and looks forward to development plans being realized. "They are moving the area in the right direction,"she said.

Evelyn Souza, chairwoman of the Makakilo/ Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, said the board did not take a position on the renovation project, though the overall consensus was that it is a good thing.

"E komo mai — we welcome Hunt with Building 77,"she said.

Local housing market researcher Ricky Cassiday produced a market study for Hunt that said there is little supply of one-bedroom apartments in the Ewa region."The market for this proposed development should be robust,"Cassiday’s report said.

The state Department of Education complained in a July 18 letter that Hunt had not discussed or agreed to provide cash or land under a law that requires developers of housing projects with more than 50 units to address impacts on school facility use before approvals are granted.

Suzuki, however, said Building 77 does not fall under school impact requirements because previously occupied housing is being restored. He added that Hunt and DOEare discussing impact fees and the need for new schools created by its Kalaeloa master plan that calls for adding roughly 4,000 new homes to the area.

Kapolei High School is already overcrowded while Barbers Point Elementary is near capacity. Yet the principals of both schools told HCDA’s board that they welcome the Hunt rental project because it will provide affordable housing potentially for teachers.

Eldon Esmeralda, principal of Kapolei High, said housing for teachers is a big issue. "There is a need," he said. "This particular project will be very beneficial."

Claudia Nakachi, principal of Barbers Point Elementary, agreed with Esmeralda and added that the bombed-out look of Building 77 makes it harder for her school to maintain enrollment. "It was like a first impression to our school,"she said of the building that is missing windows and is tagged with graffiti.

Hunt said in its application submitted to HCDAthat the old barracks, which was built in 1958 and last occupied as bachelor officer quarters in 1999, attracts vandals and homeless despite a security fence and monitoring. "This building really is a liability,"Suzuki said.

If approved, the Building 77 conversion will be the first residential piece of Hunt’s master plan that

calls for adding about 4,000 homes, 3.5 million square feet of commercial real estate, and 60 acres of open space including parks on a big piece of the 3,700-acre former military base closed by the Navy in 1999.

Hunt’s master plan dubbed Ho’ala Kalaeloa, or Renew Kalaeloa, is projected to be carried out over the next couple of decades. Other pieces of an initial phase include a light-industrial park and retail marketplace with a grocery store.