Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: I am a low-income senior and I was accepted for a subsidized unit in the Senior Residence in Kaneohe apartments in October 2000. I was accepted in November and told move-in was possible in December or January. In February, I was called in to select an apartment and parking space and told to wait for a call to move in. Apparently because of a series of problems, there still is no move-in date. There is a Unit A and Unit B. Unit B is for low income and that's been filled, but Unit A, for the very low income, has not been allowed to accept any residents, including me. Do you have any information about this? Kaneohe senior units
to open by OctoberAnswer: Thanks to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, we finally were able to get an update for you and to find out why the project has been stalled. At this point, the word is that everyone should be able to move in by the end of October, with necessary work to upgrade a sewer hook-up expected to start within a week or two.
HUD has asked Pacific Housing Assistance Corporation, developer of the vacant (except for resident manager) $6.3 million 45-apartment Unit A, to also let people on the waiting list know what is happening. The corporation's executive director, Marvin Awaya, did not return our calls.
(The $4.4 million Unit B project, with 30 apartments, was developed by Kaneohe Elderly Housing Project Ltd. Partnership. Only 18 units are occupied.)
The delay in the Senior Residence At Kaneohe project was caused by an inadequate sewer line hook-up, explained Cheryl Fukunaga, project manager of HUD's Honolulu Multifamily Program Center. (The city hired developers to build the project, which will follow HUD's rental guidelines.)
But the entire 75-unit project has been complicated by the condominium set-up of the development, the different financing involved as well as the need for the sewer upgrade, Fukunaga said.
Completion of an off-site upgrade to the sewer line hook-up between the new apartments and the city's main sewer line was required as part of the project's approval.
The problem was the cost of the upgrade originally exceeded the developer's budget to complete the construction, Fukunaga said. "The city recently approved a waiver of a major cost item, which brought the cost of construction in line with the owner's (Pacific Housing's) budget."
Work on the upgrade is expected to start shortly, with developers working out a plan to allow tenants to move in incrementally as construction progresses. All tenants are expected to be able to move in by the end of October, although work on the upgrade is expected to take four to five months, Fukunaga said.
"We regret any inconvenience or hardship the delays in occupying this project may have caused prospective tenants and their families," she said. Pacific Housing, HUD and the city "are doing everything possible to ensure that tenants on the waiting list ... can call this project home in the shortest possible time frame."
Mahalo
To, and in remembrance of, "Ala Moana Center's Goodwill Ambassador of Aloha," Mr. Ernest "Cardboard" Jones. His aloha and cardboard squares brought much okole comfort and good conversation outside the Sears store. He will sorely be missed. Auwe to those who have turned Ala Moana Center into a cold, spiritless shopping mall. -- No Name
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com