The state School Facilities Authority has awarded a contract to the nonprofit Pacific Housing Assistance Corp. for a workforce housing development at the Mili­lani High School campus aimed at providing housing for state Department of Education teachers and staff.

The public-private project will be the first workforce housing development in the state specifically for teachers and education staff, offering multifamily rental units that include both one- and two-bedroom options.

The housing development’s 65 one-bedroom units and 44 two-bedroom units will be available to anyone affiliated with DOE, not just those employed at Mililani High.

Hawaii State Teachers Association President Osa Tui Jr. said the new project could improve teacher recruitment and retention in the state.

He said he knows of instances in which school administrators hired a teacher, only for the teacher to “disappear” just before the school year began because they couldn’t find an affordable place to live.

“Housing is affecting all of us throughout the state, no matter what job you have, but we really need to address teacher housing because it’s critical to make sure that we have qualified teachers in our classrooms for our keiki,” Tui said. “If education is a priority, then teacher housing needs to be a priority.”

The initiative stems from Act 172 — Senate Bill 941 — passed by the 2023 Legislature, which authorized the School Facilities Authority to collaborate with public and private agencies to develop additional classrooms and housing for teachers and educational staff, both on and off campus.

The original appropriation for the effort was set at $170 million. An authority spokesperson said Gov. Josh Green first reduced the amount to $50 million with a veto and then further cut it to $5 million following the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfires.

The money was awarded to the authority to coordinate and facilitate projects, and a portion of that went into drafting the request for proposals for the Mililani housing project.

The RFP published in December sought a developer to construct and operate a rental housing project offering below-market rentals to eligible teachers and education staff. The authority announced Tuesday it had awarded the contract to Pacific Housing, which will handle the development, including building, managing and maintaining the rental properties.

While the state can contribute more to the project, the bulk of the housing development will be funded by Pacific Housing.

Teachers in Hawaii make approximately $72,000 annually on average. According to the authority spokesperson, rents for the Mililani project will be capped for the next 65 years for those earning between 60% and 120% of the area median income.

According to the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., those earning 120% of the AMI for Oahu would pay no more than $3,133 per month for a one- bedroom unit and $3,759 per month for a two-bedroom unit. For those earning 60% of the AMI, rents would be capped at $1,566 for a one- bedroom unit and $1,879 for a two-bedroom unit.

“With over 22,000 Department of Education employees, the need for workforce housing is significant,” Riki Fujitani, School Facilities Authority executive director, said in a news release. “This project is an alternative way to provide modern housing facilities using public- private partnerships with minimal cost to taxpayers.”

“We’re very happy that something is happening,” Tui added. “This will be a proof of concept. If we can get it to work in Mililani, hopefully we can get it to work all over the state.”

HSTA Vice President Logan Okita said the project type will help teachers of all income levels find housing, addressing the issue where some teachers earn too little to afford housing while others exceed the income limits for assistance.

Okita, a teacher at Nimitz Elementary School who was recently appointed by Green to the School Facilities Authority board, noted the shortage of affordable housing for new teachers on the lower end of the pay scale and the lack of options for those hoping to save up and purchase a home later.

“This gives me hope for being able to keep teachers here and improve the quality of our workforce by making it so that we have one less burden to worry about,” she said.