The project team also includes general contractor Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., grading and infrastructure contractor Isemoto Contracting, land planner/landscape architect PBR Hawaii, civil engineers Sam O. Hirota Engineers and Surveyors, mechanical/plumbing engineers Mechanical Enterprises, structural engineers Baldridge and Associates, electrical
Kamakoa to offer workforce housing
Experimental project serves as model to solve shortages
Special to West Hawaii Today
Seeking to help address West Hawaii’s housing shortage, a public-private partnership is embarking on developing a community for its growing workforce.
MVE Pacific and UniDev Hawaii broke ground Dec. 29 on Kamakoa at Waikoloa, a 275-acre, 1,200-unit workforce housing development in South Kohala and the first buildings are expected to be complete in 2009.
“The goal of Kamakoa at Waikoloa is to provide market-quality homes at prices affordable for working people, some who currently must travel upward of two hours to reach their workplaces or settle in tents on nearby beaches to avoid such commutes,” said Ernesto M. Vasquez, AIA, president and CEO of Honolulu-based MVE Pacific, a full-service architecture, interiors and planning firm. “Kamakoa is about creating a community that sustains itself both ecologically and socially.”
Built on land owned by Hawaii County, Kamakoa will consist of a diversity of housing types, along with planned school, community center, parks and recreation facilities. The residences will be Energy-Star qualified and will incorporate sustainable planning and design principles while maintaining affordability.
Kamakoa is the first development in the state that integrates Community Facilities District, or CFD, taxes to fund infrastructure development, while offering innovative private mortgage financing packages and rental programs for residents.
“The team crafted new planning and design criteria that were approved by the County Council so we could move forward with this experimental project,” said Jeffrey Minter, CEO of UniDev Hawaii, a local arm of a leader in building workforce housing in the United States. “Each island county is waiting for Kamakoa to be successful.”
The community is modeled after neo-traditional town concepts. Elements, such as neighborhood pocket parks, tree-lined sidewalks, natural multi-use trails, textured motor courts, courtyards, garden nodes and landscaped destination points, are designed to support a walkable environment for residents and guests.
Architecturally, homes and community buildings will include lanais, climatically appropriate materials and natural ventilation. “Kamakoa at Waikoloa is about Hawaiian lifestyle,” Vasquez said. “Kamakoa is about families.”
Both rental and for-sale units will be created, with one- and two-bedroom family units offered at 20 percent below area market rates. Single-room occupancy units will appeal to resort workers who are transient or seasonal, or to workers who reside in East Hawaii. Detached, for-sale homes include 958- to 1,320-square-foot bungalows affordable for those earning less than 120 percent of the average median income. Single-family homes that are the premium housing product of the community range from 1,110 to 1,365 square feet and are available with numerous finish options.
“Careful design of the structural components within the home, as well as the mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems, greatly contributes to the longevity and maintainability of the residence,” Vasquez said. To this end, all of the new housing and community buildings for Kamakoa at Waikoloa strive to provide a total residential construction system that stands up to the particular conditions of the regional environment.
For all dwellings, design and configuration, along with building mechanics of plumbing, ventilation and electrical, are specified toward efficiency of resources.
“The quality of housing is not just measured in its appearance,” Minter said, “but is also reflected in the quality of materials and methods of construction that are largely unseen.”
Plumbing systems are designed to minimize piping and venting and curb energy and water consumption. In addition, solar water heating systems with electric backups are provided for enhanced energy efficiency. Lighting fixtures are strategically placed for maximum effect, efficiency and comfort for residents. For interior climate control, ceiling fans are provided and secondary windows are maximized to allow for natural cooling considering the local trade winds.
The project team also includes general contractor Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., grading and infrastructure contractor Isemoto Contracting, land planner/landscape architect PBR Hawaii, civil engineers Sam O. Hirota Engineers and Surveyors, mechanical/plumbing engineers Mechanical Enterprises, structural engineers Baldridge and Associates, electrical engineers Ronald Ho and Associates, geotechnical engineers Fewell Geotechnical Engineering and project overseer Townscape.
