honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, March 5, 2002

Hawaiian Home Lands offers kupuna apartments

Gov. Ben Cayetano toured one of the units at the Waimanalo apartment complex, seen here reflected in a window, after a dedication by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The 85 apartments will be rented to low-income Native Hawaiians age 62 and up.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

WAIMANALO — Dozens of kupuna streamed through a new $11.5 million, 85-unit apartment complex yesterday hoping to qualify for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands first low-income, elderly Native Hawaiian project.

The Kulanakauhale Malu-hia o Na Kupuna apartments, across the street from Waimanalo Beach Park, represent a new strategy by the state to provide housing to a segment of the Native Hawaiian population that often has been unable to qualify for homesteads because of financial or other reasons.

"This project is a complement to what we do," said Jobie Yamaguchi, deputy to the chairman of DHHL. "It's a new strategy addressing the housing needs of the kupuna who, for whatever reason, are not able to take the homestead offers."

The pilot project, a result of a partnership of government agencies and financial institutions, could pave the way for similar projects here and on other islands, Yamaguchi said.

"It will depend on the location of the property and the demand," she said. But the success of the Waimanalo project "demonstrates that it's something we can replicate in other locations."

The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921 set aside 200,000 acres of land for Hawaiians with at least 50 percent native blood. But some spend decades on the waiting list and some have died before getting their land. And kupuna who can't qualify for home loans or may not have the family or ability to participate in self-help projects have few options to build homes even if they are offered lots, Yamaguchi said.

The interior of a model unit was open for viewing yesterday. Those who qualify for the rentals will be charged $303 to $545 a month to live across the street from Waimanalo Beach Park, in a 17-building complex with landscaped grounds.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Enter the kupuna apartments idea.

To take an apartment here, kupuna do not have to give up their place on the homestead waiting list. To qualify for the project, a person must be 62 years or older, at least 50 percent Hawaiian and have a low income. Once accepted, a kupuna pays between $303 and $545 per month on a sliding scale based on income. About 20 apartments are still available.

Yesterday the 17-building complex was blessed, delighting several people who already know they will live here and giving hope to others who see the project as a new, positive option where previously there were few.

Shirley Spencer, 62, now lives with her son and his six children. She said she qualified for an apartment and will be glad to have more space.

Roger and Lenore Bay, 82 and 67, respectively, also qualified and said they will be happy to move out of Honolulu, where burglars robbed Lenore of all her jewelry on Sunday.

"This place is gorgeous," she said. "Anybody would be foolish not to take the opportunity to come here."

Aggie Kaniaupio, 72, said she hopes to qualify for a unit because she has been kicked out of her care home and has no idea where she will live.

"I want to move here because it's beautiful and I'm being evicted from my care home in two weeks," Kaniaupio said, wiping away tears.

Each one-bedroom, one-bath unit has a garden landscaped with native plants. The spacious 5.9-acre grounds are covered with grass, shaded by native trees and framed by the Ko'olau range.

The project is the first of its kind developed by DHHL specifically to meet the housing needs of kupuna on the list for homestead lots, Yamaguchi said.

Ray Soon, chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, attributed the success of the project to the partnership of various agencies and financial entities, including DHHL, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, developer Pacific Housing O'ahu Corp., Kupuna at Waimanalo and the State Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i.

Gov. Ben Cayetano, who attended the blessing ceremony, said the state is also preparing to provide housing opportunities for young Native Hawaiians in Kapolei. About 1,000 units are planned in a rent-to-own project. But the project will rely on a similar partnership created for the kupuna apartments in Waimanalo, Cayetano said.