Self-help housing in jeopardy
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
A nonprofit group that has helped hundreds of Hawai'i low-income residents build and buy their own homes says it could be forced to close if a deal to purchase an 'Ewa property from the city is not completed soon.
• Self-Help Housing has helped more than 480 families build their own homes in Hawai'i in the past 20 years. • The group allows low-income families — those making 80 percent or less of the median state income of $64,400 — to build their own homes, doing everything from digging the foundation to putting on the roof to laying the carpets. • Ten to 15 families work at least 32 hours a week for a year under the direction of an on-site construction supervisor learning building skills. No one moves into the new homes until everyone is done. • A four-bedroom home costing $65,000 to build with labor serving as down payment is appraised at about $120,000 when completed.
Without a working project, grants to keep operations running will soon dry up, according to Claudia Shay, executive director of Self-Help Housing Corp.
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But the Harris administration says the land, which includes golf course frontage, should go to the highest bidder, bringing the most money possible to city coffers.
"Frankly, I'm incensed," said Shay. "I'm a nonprofit that doesn't have money to play with. (The city) asked me for help. Now that the real estate market is back, all of a sudden they don't need me."
Self-Help Housing Corp. has helped families move into their own homes in Hawai'i since 1984. They are currently finishing a 14-acre, 126-lot project on land bought from the city. The project is known as the 'Ewa-Area B Subdivision. The final 33 homes in that project are being completed.
The company has been working with the city to develop a second 'Ewa parcel and is looking ahead to other properties that are years down the road.
Shay said the 6.5-acre, 57-lot 'Ewa parcel for the next project was appraised at $6.3 million, and the nonprofit group secured financing this year from the state Housing and Community Services Development of Hawai'i.
But with land prices on the rise, the city now wants more money.
Malcolm Tom, city deputy managing director, said several developers have shown interest in the 'Ewa property and Self-Help Housing did not have an advance agreement with the city to purchase the land.
"There was never any understanding or any agreement," Tom said. "We always told her we would be putting it up to bid. We have an obligation to look at it from the overall perspective of our residents — the taxpayers — to get whatever is reasonable for city property. We would be criticized for giving it away."
Shay said the city administration approached her in 2002 about developing the nearby 'Ewa-Area A Subdivision. The property was to be developed by Unity House for an affordable housing project, but the deal fell through.
After several discussions and the submission of various proposals to the city, Shay said, an understanding to purchase the property was reached and she began interviewing families to qualify them for financing.
"The pent-up demand for affordable housing is huge," Shay said. "I'm not talking about welfare recipients. I'm talking about nurses, skilled laborers and policemen. These are the working people that don't have a down payment. That is the main obstacle."
Tom said Area A was intended for market-priced homes, not affordable, because of its proximity to the golf course.
City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi says more affordable housing is needed and wants the property used for that purpose, so her Budget Committee created a task force that is looking at all property owned by the city. Until the task force completes its work in December, the sale of the 'Ewa property is effectively blocked.
That prevents the administration from selling it to someone else, but it also cannot be sold to Self-Help, Kobayashi said.
"If it goes out to the highest bidder, there is no way (Self-Help) is going to win it," Kobayashi said. "Because it's affordable, people think something bad is going to happen to the neighborhood, but that isn't so. Everyone is so proud of the houses they built."
Shay said the company is continually planning its next project, but vacant land zoned residential is getting scarce. They have been focusing their efforts on the second 'Ewa project with long-term plans of finding agricultural land that could be rezoned for future projects.
Shay said that despite Kobayashi's support, the company will not last until December without moving forward with this project.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
