Oahu faces a “housing crisis,” by the City and County of Honolulu’s own estimation, running short by about 24,000 units at all price points, but particularly at affordable prices. Mayor Rick Blangiardi, now actively running for reelection, has made a commitment to meet the issue head on, with a publicly announced goal of creating 18,000 units by the time his second term — should he be reelected — comes to an end.

It’s a worthy promise, and the public will decide if it’s being kept. There are signs the city is making headway: proper emphasis being placed on affordable development, and the city has shown willingness to press existing programs and try different techniques.

With the ever-growing need, the city needs to find its stride, and accelerate the momentum shown in recent weeks over the coming months, taking care to keep its funding and resources channeled effectively.

On Tuesday, a project that is in some ways emblematic of Oahu’s long-stalled affordable housing “journey” broke ground at a 3.4-acre property owned by the city: a $62 million, 140-unit rental housing project for low-income seniors called Aloha Ia Halewiliko. On the former Aiea Sugar Mill site, the project has been considered by city administrations over the past 20 years. Last week’s groundbreaking gives hope that Honolulu is entering a new era of action on housing and housing affordability.

Honolulu has established an Affordable Housing Working Group, under Executive Director Denise Iseri-Matsubara — former head of the state’s Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. — and charged with changing the city’s “internal mindset” from regulating housing development to facilitating it.

In urban Honolulu, the city has committed to using a program first established in 2019, known as “Bill 7,” which creates incentives for private developers to build apartment buildings on infill lots, renting to households earning no more than 100% of Honolulu’s median income. The city has hopes that Bill 7 could lead to the creation of up to 21,000 more housing units — as many as 500 units each year.

The city has been working with the banking and real estate sectors to spread the word about incentives available and suitable properties. So far, however, Bill 7 projects have been slow to take off; just eight such affordable rental projects comprising 229 units have been approved by the city in the past four years. If Blangiardi’s administration hopes to fulfill Bill 7’s promise, it will have to work vigorously to draw in and educate potential developers on the benefits — and complexities — of the program.

Cooperation between the City Council and city administration on housing efforts is essential, and has been generally good. In April, the City Council extended the life of Bill 7 for an additional 10 years, until 2034. And throughout the summer, the Council has been working through a draft Bill 6 aimed at giving the city Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) director the authority to use third-party reviewers, along with self-certifying licensed architects and engineers, to speed processing of permit applications. Properly, the Council amended the bill to limit the scope of projects that can be sped through by this process, and placed a four-year sunset on use of self-certification. That keeps city planners’ eyes on bigger-money projects and emphasizes safety. Permit-streamlining options largely now apply to Bill 7 projects, tenant improvements and smaller solar projects.

Another sign of city use of promising techniques is the administration’s embrace of private activity bonds — government- guaranteed loans to developers — to get housing projects underway. The tool has not been used in Honolulu for more than 25 years. Private activity bonds have financed the purchase of Maunakea Tower in Chinatown, a formerly state-owned project which will now be preserved for affordable housing for additional decades, and are earmarked for a Waipahu townhouse project.

The mayor now characterizes the city as “an active player” in creating affordable housing — and has pledged active cooperation with the state to act in tandem, when possible, to advance housing creation. The promise in this collaboration, though, has yet to develop; the disastrous Aug. 8 Maui wildfires have diverted much of the state’s activity on housing. Encouragingly, Blangiardi and Gov. Josh Green met to discuss collaborative progress this month — and the city must keep this channel open and take advantage of all prospects state support creates.

A year ago, the city committed $30 million in affordable housing funds to the senior housing at the Aiea Sugar Mill site, 20 years after it was first considered. The lengthy gestation period casts light on the high expense and complicated planning processes involved in creating housing in Hawaii. But the groundbreaking proves it is possible — and with such advances as a base, Honolulu must now remain on track.