Dense residential growth worries Hawai'i Kai

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

HAWAI'I KAI — The newest homes here are spacious, but going up more closely than ever before.

A desirable neighborhood for many because of its open space, views, and proximity to town, Hawai'i Kai faces a rush of new home building. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Developers say rising costs for land, roads, sewers, government mandates and streetlights, as well as for houses themselves, have forced them toward higher-density developments to make projects feasible at a price buyers can afford.

Smaller lots and more people translates to what one developer calls the "new urbanism."

The industry trend that has played out in newer neighborhoods such as in 'Ewa, Kapolei and Mililani has now made its way to this 40-year-old community that always prided itself on open space.

Some 800 homes, condominiums and townhomes are being built throughout Ha-wai'i Kai. With the first wave of homes being completed, residents are beginning to see what that means for the community. Some fear that when all the homes are finished, plus 200 more that are planned, Hawai'i Kai may be a dense, noisy, busy place.

Detached condos

Years ago, the practice for standard subdivision of land was to build single-family homes and turn the streets over to the city. The developments under way today in Hawai'i Kai comprise of single-family detached condominiums in which owners share ownership and upkeep of the roads, gates, parks and recreation centers.

Developers say it's not feasible to take a 2-acre parcel, for example, and build eight homes of 1,500 square feet on 10,000-square-foot lots. The price of each home would be unaffordable, said Mike Jones, president of Schuler Homes Hawai'i Division.

Building single-family homes as condominiums, with 16 homes on 5,000-square-foot lots, allows a much more affordable price per home. To cover costs, developers have to sell more houses per parcel, but the homes themselves are no smaller.

"You start to feel like a rat in a crowded cage," said Lisa Carter, a Hawai'i Kai resident and former member of the area neighborhood board. "Without places to run dogs, fly kites and throw balls, people begin to act in a negative way. Without open space, Hawai'i Kai won't be such a desirable place to live."

Carter's feelings sum up what urban planners call the emotional cost of denser developments, said Kem Lowry, chairman of the University of Hawai'i Urban and Regional Planning department.

"We're getting greater density today for the same reason we get a 3-ounce candy bar instead of a 4-ounce for the same price," Lowry said. "It's all driven by economics."

Mix of housing

Construction of 37 homes and townhouses continues on a Keahole Street subdivision, one of several projects that will add hundreds of homes to Hawai'i Kai in the next few years. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Years of planning and drafting produced a master plan for the 6,000 acres of scrub brush, farmland and swamp that was to mature into a desirable neighborhood.

For the most part, Kaiser's concept of keeping view planes open and unobstructed was sustained. Condominiums have enough parking, with lots placed behind the buildings. Kaiser had planned on a mix of housing types, single-family homes large and small, with condominiums and townhomes, said Tim Yee, a former Kaiser Development Hawai'i Kai president.

"A mix of housing styles was (an) important component to make the project economically viable," Yee said. "It was a lot cheaper, however, to build then."

The developers of projects going up today say they are being sensitive to the flavor of the community and seek to preserve the elements that make Hawai'i Kai attractive: a sense of security, open space, good schools, water activities and shopping.

At the Peninsula project, 597 homes, townhomes and a four-story condominium are being built on Lunalilo Home Road near Kaiser High School by developer Stanford Carr, SCD International president. Another developer once proposed building 630 three-story townhomes on the property, Carr said.

A main goal at the Peninsula is to preserve open space with mini-parks, a community park and lower density to prevent a crowded look. Carr said he is dedicating two prime waterfront lots, about 10,000 square feet each, and a 2.5-acre park. He is spending more than $1 million on a recreation center. The concessions are necessary to keep the project in line with what buyers expect for Hawai'i Kai, he said.

Carr said he spent $40 million on the 40 acres, put in $12 million worth of utilities and roads, and will spend a couple million on landscaping.

Diversity of products

"We've gone to great lengths to have a better community," he said. "We tried to create a diversity of five different kinds of products. We wanted to be sensitive to the views from outside the project looking in, and from inside the project looking out."

A traffic light will be installed at the entrance to the project in the only traffic-related requirement imposed by the city.

Two Schuler Homes projects — one on Keahole Street and the other in Kalama Valley — were small enough that traffic was not an issue, according to the city. But residents are bracing for an onslaught of traffic from the scores of new homes.

"I predict that the roads will get worse than they already are," said Hawai'i Kai resident Bob Fowler. "When I hit the morning and evening traffic on Kalaniana'ole Highway, it's a bear, and it will get worse."

Residents also are concerned about noise, with so many homes close together, Carter said.

In some cases, the new homes — which range from 1,200 square feet to about 2,400 square feet — have about 400 square feet of yard, with the rest of the green space to be shared by all the condominium owners. Some homes share driveways, others have sidewalks on just one side of the street and a landscaped median up to the edge of the road.

'Future slums'

It's something that residents in 'Ewa have dealt with for a while, said Jeff Alexander, 'Ewa Neighborhood Board chairman. The community has developments on zero lot lines where one wall of a house is on the property line and the next house is three feet away.

"This is not progress," Alexander said. "It's the future slums of O'ahu."

Carr, the developer with the largest tract of undeveloped land, disagreed.

Each developer has planted trees and other landscaping, he said. At his project, the main entrance will be lined with royal palm trees and trees on every street.

"This is the new urbanism," Carr said, "a diversity of housing products from $200,000 to $900,000. Rather than pushing up the density to the max, we've created a mixture of products with different architectural styles at various price points."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.

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