LIHU‘E — Seven hundred housing units will be built within the next two years, to respond to heightened demands for affordable housing by residents, Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste said yesterday. The units, both rentals and housing units for sale, would
LIHU‘E — Seven hundred housing units will be built within the next two years, to respond to heightened demands for affordable housing by residents, Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste said yesterday.
The units, both rentals and housing units for sale, would be built across the island by self-help housing groups and developers meeting affordable-housing requirements, Baptiste told reporters during a meeting in his office at the Lihu‘e Civic Center.
If that many units are built in such a short time, the effort would eclipse that of Big Island government officials to build between 800 to 1,200 such units in the Waikoloa area over the next 10 years.
Kaua‘i County and Big Island government officials are going about developing affordable housing on their respective islands in two different ways.
“The land (about 270 acres) was an exaction from (the late Chris) Hemmeter when he built (his resort) in Waikoloa,” Baptiste said.
“Ours is a compilation of working with low-income-housing developers such as Self Help (Self-Help Housing Corporation of Hawaii) and Habitat for Humanity, and other companies like Schuler (Homes) and Princeville (Development Corporation).
“Affordable housing is a top priority for this administration,” Baptiste said, “and we are looking at ways to increase the inventory of affordable housing on Kaua‘i.”
The housing projects to be built will give hope to many local residents who are unable to buy in today’s hot realestate market, Baptiste believes.
“I hope that it draws on a sense of hope for people who have had no hope of affordable housing, not beginning to (be able to) afford housing,” Baptiste said. “The 700 units is only the beginning of our efforts to provide housing, (for) rental and purchase, opportunities for people who live on Kaua‘i, not for people coming from the outside.”
Some buyers who are not from Kaua‘i have the means by which to buy luxury homes, some of which are used as vacation rentals, county officials have said.
The 700 housing units are at various stages of development, according to Bernard Carvalho, director of the Kaua‘i County Offices of Community Assistance.
The projects include:
- 125 houses to be built in ‘Ele‘ele by leaders and volunteers with the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity organization. This project has made the most headway of any of the affordable-housing projects, Baptiste said. Construction of seven of the 18 homes planned for the first phase of the three-phase project will continue through a Build-a-Thon session scheduled for this Saturday, June 25. The 125-unit project is on donated land. Annette Creamer is executive director of Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity;
- 41 houses are to be built in Puhi by officials and volunteers with the Self-Help Housing Corporation of Hawaii, which is led by Executive Director Claudia Shay. The project is under review by members of the county Affordable Housing Task Force, which was created by the mayor and has been tasked to find near-term solutions to the affordable-housing crisis on Kaua‘i;
- Kauai Lagoons officials plan to build 106 units, which will be the subject of a Kaua‘i County Planning Commission public hearing scheduled for the end of this month;
- Schuler Homes leaders have completed a review of the project with the task force for 56 units in Puhi;
- Another 140 rental units will be built at county-managed projects at Kalepa Village in Hanama‘ulu and Pa‘anau Village in South Kaua‘i;
- Lihue Land Company leaders are planning to build 40 affordable-housing units, along with 230 market units, in a project called the “Hanama‘ulu Triangle,” near the intersection of Kuhio and Kapule highways and King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School in Hanama‘ulu;
- Leaders with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands are moving forward with a 49-unit, affordable-housing project in Kekaha, for DHHL beneficiaries who have Native Hawaiian blood;
- Two other affordable-housing projects are in the discussion phase, and include one by Princeville Corporation for 160 employee-housing units and a 44-home project on state land in Kekaha.
And it may not end there. Members of Baptiste’s administration have talked with Gov. Linda Lingle about using state lands on Kaua‘i for other housing projects.
Baptiste said one parcel is in Kekaha, another is located by Mahelona Hospital in Kapa‘a, and a third is located by Ka‘apuni Road and ‘Olohena Road in the Kawaihau District.
Baptiste also praised efforts by the members of the Leadership Kaua‘i organization, which trains folks to become future leaders of the island, for their recommendations to build more affordable housing.
A housing committee panel of that organization’s just-graduated leadership class recommended, among other things, that an individual developer set aside 25 percent of a project for affordable housing, increase densities, and continue to support a one-stop permit program initiated by Baptiste’s administration.
That permit program expedited the issuance of permits necessary for development of affordable housing units in ‘Ele‘ele by Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity.
Baptiste said some Leadership Kaua‘i recommendations were good, and that some may be incorporated into a final county housing plan.
At the same time, “there is a lot more than what was recommended by Leadership Kaua‘i, and they (recommendations) will be added to legislation that will affect affordable housing,” Baptiste said.
The county already has in place an Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Baptiste appointed a cross-section of housing professionals to the committee, which is to advise county leaders in the planning and development of an affordable-housing program.
Baptiste also said county leaders are refining the term “affordable housing” to ensure federal guidelines don’t stop Kaua‘i families from buying affordable-housing units, or renting them.
For more information on affordable housing on Kaua‘i, please call the Kaua‘i County Housing Agency at 241-4444.
