Nanakuli to get $14M rental project

The first phase of the 70-unit development will have 40 affordable rentals for people aged 62 and older

A private, nonprofit group plans to break ground next month on a $14 million rental apartment project for low-income seniors in Nanakuli.

The Hawaii Intergenerational Community Development Association has obtained a building permit for the first phase of the project, which will offer 40 affordable rental units targeting low-income seniors aged 62 and older.

Nanaikeola Senior Apartments will eventually offer 70 units when both phases are complete, with single-bedrooms rentals of about 500 square feet each.

HICDA, which in 2003 completed Kaluanui Senior Apartments, an affordable project in Hawaii Kai, specializes in low-income housing for multi-generational families.

The first phase of project is slated to break ground the first week of July, with completion and occupancy beginning next summer.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Weinberg Foundation and HICDA are all kicking in funds for the first phase of the project.

Eventual plans call for an adult daycare center on the ground floor of the apartments, with parking. The developers are in discussions with Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center to run the daycare center, according to HICDA founder Mike Klein.

The nonprofit purchased the barely half-acre lot on Nanaikeola Street off of Farrington Highway to build the affordable project more than five years ago, according to Klein. It applied for the HUD grants at the same time.

HICDA's broader plans include a master-planned community -- Nanaikeola Villages -- on about 12.4 acres in Nanakuli that are to include self-help single-family homes, duplexes, possibly a multifamily complex for seniors and a child's daycare center.

That project is expected to break ground in another six to nine months. HICDA purchased those 12 acres more than five years ago, according to Klein, for about $2.5 million.

Kaiser Permanente is located near the new project, as is Nanakuli Super.

The vision is to create an intergenerational village, Klein said.

"Ten years ago, when we looked at it, there were plenty of seniors and a need," said Klein. "Now there are more seniors and affordability is slipping away."

But building affordable projects is becoming less viable as land and construction prices in Hawaii soar.

"We've turned the corner on the availability of land," said Klein.

"Now it's becoming scarce. Because the costs of land and construction are so high, developers are turning to market-rate properties."