A plan for a retirement community of up to 867 units in the heart of Kapolei will get its first public airing before the City Council Zoning Committee at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Retirement housing plan
faces city zoning reviewThe Kapolei project's 1st phase
is to include a clinic and shopsBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.com
The initial plan for the $140 million Luana Kea project, to be developed in two phases, calls for 589 independent living apartments, 149 assisted living units, 72 independent living duplex cottages, 45 Alzheimer group residences and 12 guest units.
Also planned for the first phase are a medical clinic, dining room and community commercial area that would include a beauty shop, barber shop and gift shops.
The property is on 44 acres of former sugar cane land on Fort Barrette Road just south of Kapolei Regional Park.
Project applicant Hawaii Villages Associates calls the development a key ingredient toward developing a balanced community in the "Second City" of Kapolei.
The Planning Commission and the Planning and Permitting Department are recommending approval for changing the zoning from agricultural to community business mixed-use.
Project planner John Whalen said that the developers want an exemption from an affordable housing condition recommended by Planning and Permitting Director Randall Fujiki.
Whalen said the developer should not be required to make at least 30 percent of the units "affordable" to households with incomes making a maximum of 120 percent of median income.
"This isn't really a housing project in the usual sense, it's an insurance program," Whalen said. Under the concept, he said, clients enter into a lifetime contract where they are "guaranteed care for life ... even if they run out of money."
