Rental project
proposed for
Ewa Villages

Hui Kauhale wants to build 126
units for low-income families

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By Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.com

A nonprofit group wants to put up a 126-unit rental project for low-income families in one of the last unplanned sections of Ewa Villages.

The City Council is expected to vote Dec. 12 on Hui Kauhale Inc.'s plan to buy the 24-acre Area H section of Ewa Villages for $5.5 million. The measure moved out of the Council Budget Committee last week.

The area abuts Fernandez Village and Ewa Elementary School.

Following the first-phase rental project on 8.5 acres, Hui Kauhale is anticipating developing a mix of single- and multifamily homes as sales, rental and self-help units.

Alvin Bonnett, Hui Kauhale's secretary and treasurer, said the company is reviewing its plans because of the slumping economy and declined to give a timetable for development.

The $5.5 million purchase price comes out to about $5.32 a square foot and is based on estimated fair market value.

Hui Kauhale won out over two other developers because its proposal called for the most units at the most affordable prices, according to city officials, and because the group has had experience developing affordable housing using federal sources.

Hui Kauhale owns and operates the Kukui Tower in Chinatown and Kalani Gardens in Mililani, both affordable or low-income facilities, Bonnett said.

The company also operates the low-income Kulana Nani project in Kaneohe for the city. Hui Kauhale is affiliated with the Ecumenical Association of Housing, a national organization based in San Rafael, Calif.

Bonnett said Hui Kauhale intends to develop two-story structures that fit the character of the surrounding neighborhood.

City officials called the plan a good deal for taxpayers.

Deputy Managing Director Malcolm Tom said proceeds from the sale will go toward paying off the remaining $39 million of the original $63.5 million bond tied to the revitalization project.

The city took over Ewa Villages from Amfac/JMB in the early 1990s in an attempt to revitalize the historic plantation town and preserve the homes of longtime plantation workers.

The bond helped pay for roads, sewers and other infrastructure. The money was supposed to be paid back, in part, from the sale of 282 market-priced homes that were to be developed by Armstrong Builders but the developer backed out when the state housing market declined.

Asked if the city will be able to pay off the bond strictly from activity at Ewa Villages, Tom replied: "We're generating revenues to pay off the bond."

Councilman John DeSoto, who represents Ewa Villages, said the deal with Hui Kauhale meets the original purpose of the revitalization project.

"We made a commitment to people there to keep it historic yet make it affordable for them to stay," DeSoto said.