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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, April 21, 2003

$3.5 million grant breathes life into 'Ewa housing project

By James Gonser
Advertiser Staff Writer

A $3.5 million grant has helped put development of an 'Ewa elderly-housing project back on track, and construction is expected to begin next year.

A $3.5 million grant from the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation will allow the St. Francis Healthcare Foundation to buy a 23-acre city-owned parcel for its planned 300-unit housing community. The project will cater to senior citizens on low to moderate incomes.

Artist rendering courtesy of St. Francis Healthcare Foundation

The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation made the donation to St. Francis Healthcare Foundation for its 300-unit senior housing community planned for the 'Ewa Villages area.

Eugene Tiwanak, board president for St. Francis Healthcare Foundation subsidiary St. Francis Residential Care Community, said the grant will allow the nonprofit to buy a 23-acre, city-owned parcel and begin planning and development.

"This project is intended to be a model that an effective public-private partnership can work," Tiwanak said. "The Weinberg gift is an example. We are trying to keep the development costs as low as possible and that way we can provide lower rent housing for the elderly."

The land will cost $4.3 million, with the city covering about $2 million through a federal community development block grant, Tiwanak said. Construction for the first phase is estimated at $12 million.

The first phase will include 150 single-story, one-bedroom "garden apartment" housing units. Work will start in 2004 and take about a year to complete. The vacant parcel off Renton Road across from Renton Village is directly behind an old plantation manager's house.

Tiwanak said construction had been expected to start this year, but because the property had not been secured, deadlines for tax credits were missed, delaying work. He expects the purchase to be completed by the end of the month.

"Once we get past this purchase, we can concentrate further on picking the development team and go into site development right away," he said.

The project is one of the largest of its kind in Central and Leeward O'ahu and will help provide badly needed affordable housing for the state's rapidly growing senior-citizen population, according to Stella Wong, executive director of Catholic Charities Elderly Services.

Catholic Charities, which has set up programs in five other senior projects, will provide case management for the St. Francis project.

The charity coordinates 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.

"St. Francis is going to look at a lot of different things from assisted living — which is independent people — to a skilled nursing facility," Wong said. "It is a really big complex with a senior center, which we will look at trying to run also."

The project's first phase will include the community center along with fitness and recreation facilities and a garden. The second phase will include an additional 150 housing units, and a third phase will include an adult daycare center and other support facilities.

Tiwanak said the affordable rental units will cater to senior citizens living on low to moderate incomes. Rent is expected to be $400 to $500 a month, he said. The senior residents will live independently and make their own decisions regarding which chore and special assistance services they want.

Marketing for the homes will likely begin next year.

"The intention is to demonstrate that we can provide homes for the elderly with a program in place for supportive services to keep the costs of getting older achievable. You are not spending $3,000 a month to try to maintain yourself as you age," Tiwanak said. "This is a unique model for Hawai'i, but not something we dreamed up overnight. We've been studying different models here in Hawai'i and on the Mainland for the last 10 years. Now we will see if we can make it work."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.