Affordable housing plan depends on financing
Ironically, a similar proposal by the same agency to finance 2,500 affordable homes through the sale of state lands at the nearby Villages at Laiopua failed because of legal challenges.
The authority of the state to sell former Hawaiian Kingdom lands will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court during its 2008 term (see story on Page 5A).
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Forest City Hawaii Residential, a subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises of Cleveland, was selected through a request for proposals process April 11 as the developer for the project.
According to the final EIS, the Housing Finance and Development Corp.'s objective is to provide affordable dwelling units in West Hawaii.
The EIS also says the availability of nonceded lands -- lands not owned by the Hawaiian Kingdom at the time of the overthrow -- allows fee simple sales of homes. The Keahuolu site is the agency's only nonceded property on the Big Island.
According to the Forest City proposal, a 2,206-unit development would be built in seven phases. Homes would be offered to families whose incomes fall between 80 percent and 140 percent of the county's median income.
Also included would be space for an elementary school and a town center with 197,000 square feet of commercial area.
Kamakana Villages would be designed as a mixed-use community of affordable homes designed to rely on mass transit, walking or using bicycles to commute to work or school.
The close proximity of people to the employment center of Kailua-Kona would help to reduce heavy traffic on regional highways partially caused by those who must now travel long distances between home and work. The model is supported by the recently ratified Kona Community Development Plan.
Many of the benefits of Kamakana Villages, however, are contingent on the completion of Ane Keohokalole Highway, identified by the county as a transit route between Kailua-Kona and the region mauka of Kona International Airport.
Infrastructure must be in place before development, according to the newly approved Kona Community Development Plan.
While the sale of fee-simple market value homes built on public lands could generate funding for construction of affordable homes, Forest City will face initial hurdle of $77 million for site preparation and backbone infrastructure.
The company has asked the Housing Finance and Development Corporation for a $25 million loan from the state's Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund.
The state has determined the portion of Ane Keohokalole Highway fronting the project alone would cost $13.6 million, but that it is only responsible for half the cost. The estimated price tag for the portion of the highway between Palani Road and Hina-Lani Street is $35 million.
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gmmonko wrote on Oct 18, 2008 9:04 PM:
Middle class on the Big Island make hardly 36.000 a year. "