HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii plans to move forward with developing apartment towers to increase the housing options on the school’s flagship Manoa campus.
The apartments in the estimated $110 million project are expected to be available to students and faculty at below-market rental rates, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Sunday.
The apartments with private bathrooms, kitchenettes and the possibility of partial furnishings are expected to house singles and families. The project could produce the tallest building on the campus in Honolulu.
A child care facility and retail spaces are included in the plan for two connected towers housing more than 400 primarily graduate students and junior faculty.
“It’s a different type of product and amenity for UH students,” university Chief Financial Officer Kalbert Young said. “It won’t be like a conventional, traditional dormitory.”
Construction is expected to begin in a little more than two years and finish in 2025. Officials have planned the project for more than five years.
The towers are part of the university’s strategy to provide new, affordable student housing built at no cost to the university or Hawaii taxpayers by enlisting a private developer to build, own and operate the facility on land leased from the school.
The construction is planned on property conveyed to the university by the federal government that was previously used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
Apartments in the towers could cost more, but offer different accommodations than existing dormitories. The rental rates have not been projected, but the university hopes to provide below-market rates for comparable housing, Young said.
“It will not be the same, but it won’t be as cheap,” Young said.
There are currently 3,654 housing units on the campus serving more than 12,600 undergraduate and 4,800 graduate students, the university said.
The most expensive on-campus housing is Frear Hall at $800 per month.
