Plans for a 20-story senior affordable-housing tower downtown are up for a final vote of the City Council today despite opposition from residents of the neighboring Pinnacle Honolulu tower.
The planned Kokua Senior Affordable Housing complex, which could contain as many as 234 micro-unit studio apartments, would be built on the 12,842-square-foot lot at South Beretania and Alakea streets. The property is currently being used as a parking lot.
Alakea Parking Partners LLC is seeking exemptions from city regulations and fees to make the project pencil out. The developers are agreeing to rent most units — for a period of no less than 60 years — only
to those 55 or older with an annual income of no more than 60% of the area median income. Twelve of the units would be available only to those making 30% or less of AMI.
The project is receiving funding assistance through the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. The developer hopes to finish construction and open in August 2022.
Project representative Christian O’Connor said the developer is contemplating removing three of the units for more community space and moving the building’s footprint more toward
Alakea Street to allow a greater view plane and more light to the Pinnacle and its residents.
Among the exemptions being sought by the developer in Resolution 19-332 is to increase the allowable density to a floor area ratio of 8.3 (the proportion of total floor area to lot area). That’s more than double the 4.0 floor area ratio limit under the current business/mixed-use zoning rules, and also higher than the 7.5 ratio recommended for certain transit-oriented development areas.
The proposed 225-foot height of the building is far below the allowable 400 feet, but the developer is asking that the building be allowed to encroach into the typical height setback areas on the Alakea and Beretania streets sides.
Only 49 parking stalls will be provided — 34 within the complex with access through Alakea Street, and 15 in the adjacent Hawaiian Telcom office building. The typical requirement would be 234 stalls.
The developer is also seeking about $6.5 million in exemptions and waivers from the city, including a park dedication fee and sewage facility charge.
“This is the type of housing we need in the city,” O’Connor said, noting that the building would be near hospitals and other community services.
Robert Allen, a Pinnacle property owner, said his condominium will be adversely affected by the project. “I’m not opposed to affordable housing on this site,” he said. But the proposed building calls for removal of the required setback area from Beretania Street, making it too close to the Pinnacle, blocking view planes and light, and encroaching on the privacy of the building’s residents.
Other neighbors raised concerns about too little parking and simply too much density packed into a small property.
Allen and O’Connor spoke Thursday at a Zoning, Planning and Housing Committee hearing.
