Unionized hotel workers, tenants’ rights advocates and residents facing eviction from a Moiliili rental complex slated for demolition all appeared last week at Honolulu Hale to object to the lack of truly affordable housing on Oahu.
The group of about 30 people arrived as the City Council on Wednesday considered conceptual plans for a transit-oriented development — called 1538 Kapiolani Tower — consisting of 331 market-rate units inside a mixed-use, 400-foot-tall tower, to be built on the mauka side of Ala Moana Center.
Under development by R.M. Towill Corp. and JL Capital, the tower project proposes to knock down the aqua-colored building at 1538 Kapiolani Blvd., the old KGMB television station, which is now occupied by a restaurant and two banks. In part, the developer is asking the city for a variance to allow the tower project’s height to exceed by 150 feet the area’s 250-foot zoning base.
In addition to market-rate units, the planned project would see two off-site locations — at 765 Amana St. and 1564 Kalakaua Ave. — for 101 affordable rental units within the Ala Moana- area neighborhood.
At the meeting, Ben Sadoski, a Unite Here Local 5 representative for hotel and restaurant employees, said his union opposed the 1538 Kapiolani Tower plan as it did not meet the housing needs of working families.
“The applicant is seeking significant entitlement bonuses for a luxury condo project including a floor area ratio four times the density of what the zoning would normally allow and a height that’s 150 feet over the underlying zoning,” he said, adding that the Council could approve these variances but only if developers offer “exceptional” community benefits. “What we need right now is significant, truly affordable housing on Oahu, and we don’t feel the benefits offered here significantly justify these variances.”
Others opposed to this tower project were also against another, unrelated development that touts affordable housing options, too — but at the expense of their own homes.
By Sept. 30, Kapiolani Village Apartments tenants must completely vacate their decades-old, low-rise complex at 2647 Kapiolani Blvd. so developer Kobayashi Group and its affiliate, BlackSand Capital, can build Kuilei Place — a 43-story, $619 million tower complex meant to house 1,005 condominium units, of which 603 are deemed affordable.
Kuilei Place offers affordable units to those earning 80% to 140% of the area median income — for a person, that means between $73,360 and $128,380 annually.
The Council — following a related state-level approval from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. in October — greenlighted Kobayahsi’s Kuilei Place project in late January.
Opponents — waving signs that included ones reading “Kuilei go away, Kapiolani Village here to stay” and “Protect Hawaii’s tenants” — called on the Council to side with lower-income local residents, rather than developers who appeared to cater to more affluent buyers and renters.
“Kuilei Place is evicting 130 tenants from their homes,” Donna Raneses, a Kapiolani Village resident, said. “We and many others will all have to leave and don’t know right now where we’re going to find a place.”
She added there appeared to be no “community benefits” for her family and fellow tenants being evicted.
“There’s no way the City Council can justify a project that leaves 134 families in financial distress,” she said. “To be working class in Honolulu often means one or two missed paychecks away from being on the street.”
Moreover, Raneses said, “the only benefit in this project is for the developer and the City Council” as she and another speaker would assert the nine-member panel — save Council member Augie Tulba — had, according to state filings, collectively received $184,000 in political campaign donations from Kobayashi, BlackSand Capital and the Kobayashi family since 2019.
“All of these donations over these past years are only to get favors back,” she said. “These developers know what they’re doing — they’re getting favors from you guys to continue to do this is corruption. It’s clear corruption. And that’s why they’re failing me and my neighbors.”
Cecile Daniels, a renter who works as a housekeeper at a Waikiki hotel, grew emotional as she related her plight of working three jobs to keep her family on the island.
“I have two children, and I feel like I cannot afford to pay my rent,” said Daniels, sobbing. “I cannot buy my own house and car. … My family lives paycheck to paycheck, and it’s not enough. … I am asking you, please, to demand more from the developers, because I don’t want to be homeless.”
Pierre Watts, a Kapiolani Village tenant, said he already lives in affordable housing.
“But now we’re going to be displaced for supposedly affordable housing,” Watts said, noting so-called affordable housing projects meant to benefit families earning 80% of the AMI remained unaffordable to most. “So, one person earning $73,400 per year — I don’t know how many people on this island make that kind of money. And if they do, they probably already have a place.”
In frustration, Watts then asked the Council, “When are you going to do the work of the people? … You got the job, do the work. The people are asking for your help. … Stop building places that people can’t afford and then attaching ‘affordable housing’ to it.”
Soon after, Nikhil Khurana, a tenants’ rights advocate, would accuse Kuilei Place developer Kobayashi of sending a threatening email to Kapiolani Village residents.
“Tenants who gather and speak to one another are being told they are going to be in violation of their lease and that they will be held accountable to that if they’re gathering,” Khurana told the Council. “Because we’ve been gathering this whole time, and been speaking, that’s how we know about this issue — not from you guys.”
Although their project was unrelated to Kuilei Place, Council Chair Tommy Waters questioned the developers of 1538 Kapiolani Tower on affordable-housing options within their own planned development.
Isaiah Sato, an agent with R.M. Towill Corp., said the project’s 101 units will be “affordable rentals at 80% area median income and below, restricted for 30 years.”
Sato added, “Of the two off-site locations, one is an existing commercial building, so there will (be) no residential tenants displaced there, and the second site has six tenants on-site and we intend to continue to work with them to find a new place.”
Prior to the Council’s vote to refer the 1538 Kapiolani Tower project to the panel’s Committee on Zoning for further review, Waters told opponents to these new affordable-housing developments to return to Honolulu Hale and continue to share their views on the projects.
Developer’s plans
In response to allegations that developer Kobayashi Group was forbidding — or even threatening — Kapiolani Village residents to meet or congregate at the rental complex, the company told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that such accusations were false.
“Kapiolani Village Apartments is not prohibiting tenants from joining any organization or prohibiting tenants from meeting,” the company said in a written statement.
However, as a matter of health and safety, Kobayashi said that it does prohibit outdoor gatherings on its private property’s common areas.
“The Kapiolani Village Apartments’ rental agreement prohibits residents from holding events in common areas,” the company’s statement reads. “Kapiolani Village management sent an email to tenants to assure them that KVA would uphold its commitment to provide them with a safe place to live, and reminded them that they could not use common areas for meetings or events.”
The company further said Kapiolani Village tenants are not prohibited from meeting with one another inside individual apartment units at the complex, nor are they prevented from meeting off-site at a local park or similar location.
And a top Kobayashi executive also says the company is relocating affected tenants.
“We continue to provide promised relocation services for residents of Kapiolani Village Apartments,” Alana Kobayashi Pakkala, the company’s executive vice present and managing partner, said via email. “Working with city and state leaders, we agreed to exceed the state’s 120-day notice requirement by providing nearly one year’s notice of our plans — residents were notified in October 2022 that leases would not be renewed.”
And Kobayashi is “providing comprehensive support to residents, including a dedicated relocation specialist who is searching for new homes, August and September rent free, a reference letter, and $1,500 in additional relocation assistance,” Pakkala’s email reads.
She added that “out of 125 impacted tenants at initial notification, 49 have found a new home.”
According to the company, California-based Cirrus Asset Management Inc., that manages Kapiolani Village Apartments, a local nonprofit, Hawaiian Community Assets, has been engaged to “provide additional financial counseling and housing assistance resources.”
Meanwhile, Kuilei Place is expected to break ground in late 2023, with an anticipated completion date of mid-2026, the company says.
