The nonprofit Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. has filed a draft environmental assessment as part of its plan to construct a nine-story tower in Waikiki that offers affordable rental possibilities for low-income and chronically homeless individuals with units as small as 250 square feet.
The project would add a second tower to Ainahau Vista, an affordable senior rental built by HHFDC in Waikiki. The new tower, which would have 47 one-bedroom units and 15 studios, would mostly cater to low-income elderly tenants, with household incomes in the $40,000-and-below range. The developer is required to keep units at an affordable level for at least 62 years.
Keith Kurahashi, president of Kusao &Kurahashi Inc., a consultancy assisting with the project, previously told the Waikiki Neighborhood Board that one-bedroom units would average 400 square feet and studios would come in at 250 square feet. Along with the tighter unit size, the development would have extremely limited parking and would have to get exemptions to density and other building rules. The new nine-story, 80-foot-high tower will have 22 parking stalls and one loading stall. In contrast, the existing Ainahau Vista tower is a 106-unit affordable senior rental apartment development with 29 parking stalls, five accessible stalls and one loading stall.
The project, which was announced to the Waikiki Neighborhood Board in 2014, has entered its statutory 30-day public review and comment period. Comments are due by March 24 and should be sent to HHFDC at 677 Queen St., Honolulu 96813. The public also can contact Stan Fujimoto, HHFDC project manager, at 587-0541. Comments should be copied to Kusao &Kurahashi Inc., 2752 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 5-217, Honolulu 96822.
Waikiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Bob Finley said the board supported the project.
”The project seems reasonable. This is the second go-around for the design. They addressed some off-street parking concerns,” Finley said. “I went to the opening of the first one. It was very basic, but it served its purpose and gets people who might otherwise be homeless off the streets.”
Community response was generally favorable. However, a few community members raised objections ranging from the small unit sizes to concerns about parking, disappearing green space and disturbing iwi, or Hawaiian burials.
While the units will be smaller than some hotel rooms in Waikiki, they represent the wave of the future for municipalities that are struggling to provide affordable housing in expensive, high-density settings. Cities like Seattle have been building units even smaller since the late 2000s.
Last year a community of shipping container housing units called Hale Mauliola opened at Sand Island to provide transitional housing for homeless people.
The Institute for Human Services, which runs the state’s largest homeless shelters and operates Hale Mauliola, previously supported the concept of the Ainahau Vista expansion.
“Our message is that we need to consider all options because we have high demand and limited inventory of affordable housing,” said Kimo Carvalho, IHS development and community relations manager.
