Schools and housing share one very valuable and limited resource in Hawaii: real estate.
So if some public schools are underutilized because of low enrollment, could the property be better used to help alleviate a chronic shortage of affordable housing?
Gov. Neil Abercrombie has promoted the idea, and believes a new state law deregulating development of state land combined with ongoing efforts to consolidate schools have created a prime opportunity to build affordable work force housing at no cost to the state using public-private partnerships.
"I intend to build housing — I intend to do development on (Department of Education) land," he said to a real estate and development group in June.
Abercrombie has shared the idea with the Department of Education and Board of Education, which recommend and approve school closings, respectively. There are no specific plans yet to redevelop any school site with work force housing.
The governor has suggested that a law creating the Public Lands Development Corp. earlier this year can expedite work force housing construction with little expense to the state by allowing private developers to build and maintain the housing. The state would retain ownership of the land.
Because high land costs represent one of the biggest barriers to building affordable housing in Hawaii, the state historically has provided land to developers. The Villages of Kapolei, Mokuola Vista, Plantation Town Apartments and other projects have been developed this way.
The primary agency doing this, the Hawaii Housing and Finance Development Corp., sees some advantage to working with the Public Lands agency with its unique powers if DOE land was freed up.
"We can use more land," said HHFDC director Karen Seddon.
Abercrombie estimates that the DOE has about $3 billion in real estate. Other estimates put the figure higher.
The department is in a relatively early phase of analyzing schools statewide for potential consolidation.
To date, three schools have been closed: Wailupe Valley Elementary in East Honolulu, Queen Liliuokalani Elementary in Kaimuki and Keanae Elementary on Maui.
None of these had good potential for housing. The Wailupe school was on land owned by the city, which reclaimed the property. Keanae is a small, rural town that had a one-room schoolhouse. And the DOE intends to use Liliuokalani facilities to relocate office personnel from leased space, which could save $740,000 a year.
Preliminary consolidation reports covering 30 schools in four Oahu school complex districts — Roosevelt, Kaimuki, Kailua and Kalaheo — are pending. The DOE will assess whether the state would save money closing any schools based on enrollment projections, unused space, facility upgrade needs and other criteria.
Future studies are possible on eight elementary schools in Oahu’s Castle complex, nine elementary schools on Hawaii island, and the middle school and high school on Molokai.
One school recommended for closure — Likelike Elementary in the McKinley complex — awaits a Board of Education vote.
The board suspended its consideration of approving or rejecting Likelike’s closure last month because board members felt they didn’t have enough information based on a DOE report that doesn’t consider student achievement in the consolidation criteria.
Don Horner, board chairman, said he has discussed the work force housing idea with Abercrombie, and agrees there may be opportunities to implement the idea. However, Horner emphasized that there are no specific sites on the table and that student achievement in his view should take precedent over other considerations for consolidating schools.
"It’s not simply about harvesting (real estate) assets," he said. "It’s making better strategic use of schools."
Per DOE policy, consolidating schools is largely an economic decision factoring whether money for operations and scheduled maintenance can be saved by transferring students to adjacent schools.
One DOE criteria is how suitable school property would be for an alternative use by the department or for other state activities. This could include affordable housing, though the DOE doesn’t have such a capability.
"The DOE has zero authority to do housing," said Randy Moore, assistant superintendent for DOE’s Office of School Facilities and Support Services.
Moore said that if a school were closed and DOE didn’t intend to reuse the property, the department would convey it to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
That’s where the Public Lands entity comes into play. The agency created earlier this year has broad power to develop DLNR land through private partnerships with little regulatory constraint.
The agency is in the process of hiring an executive director and has yet to consider any specific development proposals.
The Public Lands agency — which is led by a board dominated by state agency directors appointed by Abercrombie — is exempt from zoning, land-use laws and construction standards, among other rules.
In addition, the Public Lands agency could help developers obtain low-interest financing, using the state’s bond-issuance powers, which Abercrombie mentioned in his June address to a group of developers and real estate professionals attending an International Council of Shopping Centers conference at the Kahala Hotel.
"I don’t see any reason why we can’t utilize the land for the benefit of the people," he said at the event.
Abercrombie was in Asia last week. His press secretary, Donalyn Dela Cruz, said the governor is supportive of public-private partnerships to grow affordable housing. "This means taking a look at options that work for our island state and urbanizing in areas where it makes sense," she said.
ON THE LIST
The state Department of Education completed preliminary assessments earlier this year of several schools within five Oahu school complexes that will be examined more closely for potential consolidation. So far, only one school within the five complexes, Likelike Elementary, has been recommended for closure.
KAIMUKI
» Ala Wai Elementary
» Aliiolani Elementary
» Hokulani Elementary
» Jarrett Middle
» Jefferson Elementary
» Kaimuki High
» Kuhio Elementary
» Lunalilo Elementary
» Palolo Elementary
» Washington Middle
KAILUA
» Enchanted Lake Elementary
» Kaelepulu Elementary
» Kailua High
» Keolu Elementary
» Maunawili Elementary & High
» Pope Elementary
» Waimanalo Elementary & Intermediate
KALAHEO
» Aikahi Elementary
» Kailua Elementary
» Kailua Intermediate
» Kainalu Elementary
» Kalaheo High
» Mokapu Elementary
MCKINLEY
» Likelike Elementary (recommended for closure)
ROOSEVELT
» Lincoln Elementary
» Maemae Elementary
» Manoa Elementary
» Noelani Elementary
» Nuuanu Elementary
» Pauoa Elementary
