A nonprofit affordable-­housing developer plans to expand residential use in Kalaeloa with a midrise apartment rental complex on former Navy land.

Ikaika ‘Ohana proposes to develop the 260-unit project for low-income households next to a former Navy townhome community called Orion Park if exemptions from state zoning regulations for the area can be obtained.

Such exemptions, including density and height limits, can be granted for projects that predominantly serve low- or moderate-­income households.

Ikaika ‘Ohana aims to make its entire project affordable to households earning no more than 60% of the median income on Oahu, including some units reserved for households earning no more than 30%, 40% and 50% of the median income.

The 60% threshold currently equates to $58,500 for a single person, $66,840 for a couple and $83,250 for a family of four.

Monthly rent, if the project existed today, could be as low as $586 for a one-­bedroom apartment for a household at the lowest income limit, and up to $1,775 for a three-bedroom unit for a household at the top of the income-limit range.

Douglas Bigley, Ikaika ‘Ohana president, said plans for the project called Kaiaulu o Kalaeloa are in a preliminary stage and potentially could be tailored to offer some rent-to-own units or other things, such as giving preferences to certain parts of Hawaii’s essential workforce where staffing challenges are affected by the short supply of affordable housing.

Ikaika ‘Ohana has a pending application with the state Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. to make its planned project eligible for development rule exemptions. HHFDC also can provide low-income housing projects with financing that includes bonds, low-interest loans and state and federal tax credits.

The developer also has reached out to the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency that governs zoning in the area, which until 1999 was part of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station.

Most of the former 3,700-acre Navy base was transferred to state, city and private entities for reuse after closure.

HCDA in 2006 adopted a master plan for the area that envisioned development of 6,000 homes, including 1,800 for low- to moderate-­income households, over two decades. Development, however, has been slow to materialize, in large part due to challenges with old Navy water, electrical and sewer infrastructure.

In 2020 there were 822 homes in Kalaeloa, according to a city estimate cited by HCDA.

HCDA adopted administrative rules for the district in 2012, and in 2020 began an effort to update Kalaeloa’s master plan and development rules.

A July draft master plan update said development in Kalaeloa has picked up since 2020 and includes a new Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic completed earlier this year, and 100 affordable rental apartments in a renovated former barracks building. Earlier this year the first homes in a 389-unit planned subdivision were delivered by local developer Gentry Homes. Under HCDA rules, 20% of new homes must be affordable to households with high-­moderate incomes.

The agency’s draft master plan update encourages development of higher-density housing in certain areas compared with the current master plan.

“The diminishing supply and relatively high value of land on Oahu necessitates the serious and practical consideration of intensifying land uses, especially when viewed from a long-term perspective,” the draft states. “Rather than relying solely on low-density single-family development with segregated commercial areas, which is the prevailing pattern of residential development in other Ewa neighborhoods, the Master Plan expands residential opportunities, from small-lot houses and townhouses to apartments.”

The parcel intended for the Ikaika ‘Ohana project is part of what HCDA proposes as an “urban center” district of Kalaeloa where buildings would not generally be taller than seven stories and density would range from 40 to 100 dwelling units per acre.

Ikaika ‘Ohana’s project on 3.4 acres is proposed for one seven-story building with 134 units as a first phase, and a second building rising nine stories with 126 units. The two buildings would cradle a four-story parking structure topped by a recreation deck on the site where one two-story former military building exists on an otherwise vacant lot.

According to property records, an affiliate of Hunt Cos. owns the parcel for the project. Texas-based Hunt acquired about 540 acres of the former base from the Navy in 2009, and in 2013 produced a master plan to add 4,000 new homes, retail outlets, light-industrial businesses and recreational spaces on its land.

Hunt previously has worked with Ikaika ‘Ohana, a nonprofit affiliate of California-based development firm Urban Housing Communities, on affordable-­housing projects in Hawaii, including the 200-unit rental project Kaiaulu o Kuku‘ia in Lahaina, which was in an early stage of construction when the August 2023 wildfire occurred but was spared serious damage.