Editorial: Hope for more affordable housing

It’s encouraging to see a few rays of sunshine in the largely gloomy forecast for affordable rental apartments.

Downtown Honolulu’s biggest office tower, Bishop Place, is now slated for a makeover as a moderately priced rental housing property. The 25-story building, which has struggled to maintain high business-related occupancy, will be converted to house some 500 residential apartments.

Also, Mayor Kirk Caldwell, along with City Councilwoman Kymberly Pine and home developer Marshall Hung, recently unveiled a package of incentives that aim to encourage owners of smaller apartment-zoned properties to build low-rise rental buildings. The proposal is now before the Honolulu Planning Commission.

Both bright ideas would set the bar for a portion of apartment inventory as low as 80 percent of Honolulu’s median income. Under current income levels, monthly rents could be no higher than $1,750 for one-bedroom units and $2,100 for two-bedroom units at the lowest income limit. Such offerings are much needed.

Last summer, citing a gaping scarcity of safe, sanitary and affordable rentals, a state-led panel described Hawaii’s current inventory as constituting a crisis for nearly two-thirds of the state’s residents. Statewide, an estimated 22,500 affordable rentals are needed by 2026. The bulk of that need — more than 15,000 units — is in the median income bracket set at and below 80 percent. Federal guidelines define 100 percent of median income for a two-person household at $93,300 in 2018 dollars.