Group builds affordable rentals
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
A local nonprofit group is fast becoming a leader in developing low-income rental housing, with at least seven projects either completed or under way in the last three years.
The Kina'u Vista project in the heart of central Honolulu is the latest to be put forward by the Hawai'i Housing Development Corp., which was set up in 1993 by community leaders to provide rental housing for people with low incomes in Honolulu's high-priced market.
After an initial period of organization, the group since 1999 has opened affordable and senior housing at Birch Street Apartments, Wisteria Vista and Kalakaua Vista. Besides Kina'u Vista, HHDC's Punahou Vista project in Makiki has received city approval, and several more projects are in the planning stages.
Kina'u Vista is a $10.7 million, eight-story senior rental project on Kina'u Street near Pi'ikoi Street that will provide 62 units. The structure will replace two older homes on two parcels. HHDC filed a draft environmental assessment for the project this month with the state Office of Environmental Quality Control.
Project manager Gary Furuta said all of their buildings are high quality and the senior developments are designed to help aging residents retain their independence.
"We are pleased with our projects," Furuta said. "It is such a good feeling to go into these buildings because the seniors really appreciate being there."
Furuta said the amenities at Kina'u Vista are geared to making life easier and more communal for the targeted senior residents who must be 62 or older and earning at or below 30 percent to 50 percent of Honolulu's median income to quality for an apartment. Units will rent for $313 to $515 a month.
"We've built in community rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, TV lounges, computer rooms, sewing rooms and reading areas," Furuta said.
To comment on the Kina'u Vista project, write to: Kina'u Vista L.P. Hawai'i Housing Development Corp. 725 Kapi'olani Blvd., Suite C-103, Honolulu, HI 96813. Include copies for the state Housing & Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i, the consultant and the Office of Environmental Quality Control. The deadline for public comments is Dec. 9.
Residents will also be assigned individual garden plots, called victory gardens, for the therapeutic benefits of getting outside and working with their hands, Furuta said. The apartments will have about 418 square feet of interior space, and a full laundry will be located on each floor.
To comment
HHDC has also proposed the Punahou Vista Apartment affordable-housing project in Makiki. The eight-story family rental project has raised concerns from residents in the past over traffic congestion in the busy Punahou and Wilder Street intersection.
In September, the City Council passed a resolution to allow Punahou Vista to move forward.
The Kalakaua Vista Apartments, a $13.1 million affordable senior rental complex in Waikiki, opened in March. Wisteria senior housing opened in 2000, and Birch Street, a family building, in 1999.
Furuta said the only thing HHDC does is affordable-housing, either senior or family, depending on the location.
"If it is close to supermarkets, services and restaurants, then we go senior," he said. "If it is still in the urban area but a little further away from the grocery stores, then we consider family."
Furuta said Hawai'i's growing senior population is in desperate need of housing, and their projects are 100 percent full.
"Both senior and family low-income markets are extremely strong in Hawai'i," Furuta said. "Rentals are so expensive and the economy hasn't helped in the last five or 10 years. Market studies that we are required to do show a very strong demand for both groups."
To foster the developers' "aging in place" concept, Catholic Charities will be brought in to provide counseling and physical assistance as needed for residents to help keep them independent and secure.
Stella Wong, executive director of Catholic Charities Elderly Services, said the charity has set up programs in two other HHDC senior projects and at Kina'u will provide case management, classes for social, educational and health needs, chore service and light housekeeping, transportation to medical and financial appointments, shopping services, money management, personal care and links to service providers.
"For a lot of the seniors, as they get older they cannot physically clean their apartments anymore, so we bring in chore services," Wong said. "They start losing the ability to get to the doctor's office, so we link them up to transportation. If they're having trouble walking and are depressed, or a spouse dies we have a counselor to help them adjust to their aging process.
"It is important that they be able to remain in the community and not have to go to a care home or a long-term care facility. When they no longer can be independent, we help transition them to another facility that is more appropriate."
Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2003 pending permit approvals and last 10 to 14 months, Furuta said.
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
