As the years go by, it has become more and more difficult to build workforce and affordable housing in Hawaii and in particular, Kakaako.

The last affordable housing project by the private sector in Kakaako was completed in 1996. Only now, 17 years later, is a second affordable workforce housing tower going up.

After a career in construction, I know now is the best time to build.

Why are there so few affordable housing projects?

» One reason is the high price of land, which makes it difficult economically to build an affordable housing project. In the mid-1990s, an affordable housing project might have been deemed economically feasible in Kakaako if land costs were $75 per square feet. Today that has risen to more than $150 per square feet, and market-priced high-rise buildings reach prices of more than $400 per square feet. So high land costs make workforce housing very challenging.

» Second, affordable housing relies on competitive construction pricing. When the market is down, contractors bid low to stay in business. When the market gets busy, construction prices increase, which pushes affordable housing above the threshold of being economically feasible.

» Third, the approval process is very long. Current rules governing building design and development were made with good intentions, but it is taking ever longer for approvals, especially in a market that is highly political.

In order to make affordable housing projects economically feasible today, it’s all about timing, costs and cycles. Waikiki developments started in the early 1960s and were completed by the 1980s. In that same 20-year period, Makiki was built with many high-rise residential towers. However, Makiki avoided becoming the densely packed "jungle" that Waikiki is, and is a more livable home to thousands of families.

When the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA) was created 35 years ago, one of its goals was to avoid the problems of Waikiki. There were not many areas where one could build high-rise residential towers in Honolulu except in Kakaako. HCDA controlled and planned the 600-plus acres within Kakaako. In the 1980s and mid-1990s, more than a thousand affordable units were constructed as rental housing units in Kakaako by HCDA. Also in the 1980s, four high-rise towers were completed. After those towers were built, development slowed, then rebounded in the 1990s. Four higher-end, market-priced towers were completed with one private sector, non-government-sponsored affordable tower. In total, six towers were completed in Kakaako from 2000 to 2010.

In 2008 the economy faced a major downturn and many of the residential towers planned during the early 2000s were put on hold. A few of these are finally re-starting. In these unpredictable economic and political times, it is uncertain how many of Kakaako’s proposed residential towers will be built over the next 10 years. In past cycles, the track record shows that half of the projects planned never got built.

Economic cycles for affordable housing projects are about 10 years, especially if there are no government subsidies. If we do not take the opportunity now to support good development for affordable housing, we may easily be waiting for the next cycle a decade from now before we can provide suitable housing for our next generation of first-time home buyers. If we don’t provide affordable housing now for our 30-year-olds, the next opportunity they have to purchase a home may be in their 40s or 50s.

That’s why so many people stood in line to buy the affordably priced units at 801 South St. With the first tower sold out and hundreds of potential buyers waiting for the second tower to get started, it would be an enormous disappointment to our younger generation and other families that have been renting for decades not to have their dream of home ownership fulfilled.

The question is: Where will Hawaii’s families live? Why is it so difficult to get approvals when there is such a need? And to those who want to make the approval process lengthier, do they really care about providing housing for our people today?