Senior units set for 'Ewa Villages
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer
'EWA — A 300-unit senior housing community is being planned for the 'Ewa Villages area by the parent company of the St. Francis medical centers in Hawai'i.
St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawai'i wants to buy 26 acres from the city by the end of this year. The first phase of construction of 150 "independent living" housing units would start in mid-2003 and be completed by mid-2004. The vacant parcel off Renton Road across from Renton Village is situated directly behind the old plantation manager's house.
The affordable rental units would cater to senior citizens living on low to moderate incomes. Tentative qualifications would include single households making $32,050 or less, and households with two persons making $35,600 or less.
The project is one of the largest of its kind in Central/Leeward O'ahu and will help provide badly needed affordable housing for the state's rapidly growing senior citizen population.
Land purchase is estimated at $5 million, with St. Francis to pay $3 million and the city covering the remainder through a federal community development block grant, Tong said. Construction for the first phase is estimated at $12 million.
"The property has been sitting idle for many years," said city deputy managing director Malcolm Tom, who noted that no residents would have to be relocated to make way for construction.
St. Francis officials and the city are finalizing the purchase agreement for the land transaction, said Myron Tong of St. Francis Healthcare Foundation of Hawai'i. Tong said St. Francis has never built a housing project on this grand a scale.
Tong said the timetable for the project's second phase of 150 housing units and third phase of a special adult daycare center and other support facilities would be based on how quickly the first 150 homes are occupied.
Because the tenants would be elderly, many of the units would be wheelchair-compatible, Tong said. All of the housing units would be single-story to allow the quick evacuation of the tenants in the event of an emergency.
The project's first phase would include a community center, fitness and recreation facilities and a garden, he said.
Tong said the main objective "is keeping seniors healthy as long as possible. If they aren't involved in programs and activities to keep active, their health could begin to deteriorate quickly."
AARP state executive director Greg Marchildon said more affordable senior housing such as the St. Francis project is badly needed, particularly in Hawai'i where seniors live longer than the rest of the nation. Census figures show Hawai'i's population of residents ages 65 and older grew by 29 percent between 1990 and 2000 — the fifth-fastest rate in the nation. In 25 years, it is projected that more than 1 in 5 residents in the state will be 65 or older.
"A lot of focus has been on long-term care and end-of-life period issues, which is important, but we also need to look at affordable housing and programs in keeping seniors physically and mentally sharp," Marchildon said. "It's when an elderly person, or any person, feels isolated or that he or she has lost control of their lives, it becomes a very slippery slope health-wise."
St. Francis officials presented their plan to the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board this week and are scheduled to discuss the project with the 'Ewa Neighborhood Board on Thursday.
Reach Scott Ishikawa at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 535-2429.
