Dynamic housing solutions needed

Long mired in an affordable housing shortage, Hawaii is now well acquainted with the fallout. Workers critical to our economy move away because of the high costs of living here. And residents on household budgets stretched thin risk falling into the state’s homeless population, which ranks as the highest per capita nationwide.

In response to a 2015 state estimate that sets a decade-long demand for total new housing before 2025 at upwards of 60,000, laws have been enacted and initiatives pursued to spur development of affordable units for sale and rent. Still, mightier pushes are needed to step up the slow progress.

For Native Hawaiians, a housing mandate enacted by Congress nearly a century ago still has some 28,000 adults who meet the 50% Hawaiian blood quantum on wait lists for a chance to purchase homelands property.

Among the obstacles to expanding overall inventory — for Native Hawaiians and everyone else — are island-state geographic limitations, construction costs, lacking infrastructure and government regulation. However, in many cases, even when obstacles are cleared away, housing designated as affordable is still out of reach.

In the case of Keonaona Salis, featured in a recent Honolulu Star-Advertiser story by reporter Kristen Consillio, upon being awarded a Hawaiian homelands lot — after a decades-long wait — his family lacked financial means to build a home and fell short of qualifying for a conventional bank loan.

In response, Aloha United Way (AUW), which assists households living above the federal poverty level but below financial stability through its ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) program, connected Salis with a sort of triage team effort that has helped deliver a new home and promise for a financially stable future.

This year, the grant-making AUW launched a three-year commitment to fund a collaboration among 10 local nonprofits aimed at helping households avoid a cash-strapped trajectory. The need for such assistance is stunning: AUW estimates 48% of Hawaii households are teetering near poverty.

The Salis family was provided with financial literacy and workforce training expertise, and construction costs were lowered, thanks to Honolulu Habitat for Humanity’s home-building help. As nonprofits also struggle to make their own financial ends meet, such pooling of resources can yield many success stories.

In regards to government’s role in game-changing affordable housing, state Sen. Stanley Chang is proposing construction of low-cost, high-density leasehold condo units for rent or sale on state-owned land near proposed public rail stations.

Based on a Singaporean model, the now loosely defined ALOHA (Affordable, Locally Owned Homes for All) program appears to hold potential to make a huge a leap in expanding inventory targeting households below the mark of average median income.

The ALOHA idea has prompted feedback suggestions such as opting for a mixed-use approach — a broad range of incomes and commercial elements, including retail shops, which could help projects pencil out for developers while creating a more inclusive social mix. It has also elicited worry that Hawaii’s take on the model could result in run-down buildings due to a lack of financial incentive to spend on upkeep.

Chang is leading a “kick-the-tires” affordable housing conference today in Honolulu, during which topics ranging from infrastructure needs, to financing development of new units will be discussed with experts.

Moving forward, the 2020 Legislature should give ALOHA serious consideration. If executed effectively, it could be a golden opportunity to put in place sustainable, revenue-neutral affordable housing while monetizing government assets along the rail corridor.