$224M Affordable Plan Completes Phase 1 in Hawaii

Pohulani Elderly housing community on Oahu. Photo courtesy of David Franzen

A public-private partnership between The State of Hawaii, Standard Communities and Stanford Carr Development has closed on the first phase of a $223.9 million plan to reposition 1,221 affordable housing units on the islands of Oahu, Hawaii and Maui.

(Last October, Standard Communities purchased Curtis Arms Apartments, a 106-unit affordable housing community in the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence, R.I.)

The first phase included 995 units across five of the six properties that are part of the repositioning plan. As part of the plan, all units will be preserved as affordable housing for the long-term, residents will receive project-based rental assistance and the six-property portfolio will undergo an $85 million rehabilitation. The upgrades will include unit interior renovations, modernized building systems and updated common areas that will offer services and programs for residents, who will not be displaced during the renovations.

Three of the properties are located in Kakaako, Oahu: Pohulani Elderly, a 263-unit senior housing community; Kauhale Kakaako, a 268-unit asset; and Kamakee Vista, a 226-unit property. The other three communities in the plan are Kekuilani Courts, an 80-unit asset in Kapolei, Oahu; Honokowai Kauhale, a 184-unit property in Lahaina, Maui; and Lailani Apartments, a 200-unit community in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The assets also house approximately 86,000 square feet of commercial space.

Hawaii has some of the highest housing costs in the U.S. The state has set a goal to increase the affordability of housing and decrease the percentage of income that goes toward housing and transportation over the next decade.