Why Everybody Had To Move Out Of This Affordable Housing Project

The Challenges of Affordable Housing in Honolulu

A $7.5 million apartment building purchased by the City and County of Honolulu in 2018 to provide housing for low-income and homeless people is now sitting vacant due to problems with the building.

Even though the city spent more than $335,000 on repairs, tenants lived there for less than five years, and the future of the Waikiki building remains uncertain.

Purchase and Assessment

Honolulu purchased the eight-story property at 436 Ena Road in April 2018 using federal Community Development Block Grant funds and it was the first city-developed project in Waikiki to accept Housing First vouchers for its 33 studio apartments.

An assessment completed at the time by G70, a civil engineering company, deemed the building in “fair condition” and said it was ready to be occupied.

Building Issues

But assessors also noted “code compliance deficiencies and maintenance issues.” For example, the roof was in poor condition and leaking, and assessors recommended it be completely removed and reconstructed. A new fire sprinkler system was needed; the elevator had to be redone; “extensive accessibility modifications” were required, including the installation of access ramps; and water infiltration points needed to be sealed, among other repairs, according to the assessment report.

Urgency For Affordable Housing

The Waikiki building is an example of the challenges facing the city as it tries to use existing developments to help ease a housing crisis that has seen many residents priced out of the market and low-income families threatened with homelessness.

Michael Formby, the city’s managing director, said he couldn’t explain why tenants were moved into the building despite its issues because the purchase took place under the previous administration.

“There’s such a push for the city and the state to acquire affordable housing,” he said. “It’s considered one of our top priorities and a crisis.”

Tenants Had To Move Out Less Than 5 Years After Moving In

Since its purchase, the city has spent $335,886 working on the building, including $100,000 for “miscellaneous repairs” in 2018, $200,476 on fire alarm upgrades in 2020, $13,947 on emergency roof repairs in 2021 and $21,463 fixing a fire suppression system in 2022, according to the city’s Department of Community Services.

At first, tenants were moved around within the building while repairs were conducted, Formby said. But by early this year, the city decided the repairs needed were too extensive, and the 12 tenants who remained had to move out.

What Next?

If the rehab is deemed too expensive, and the city decides to sell the property, the Community Block Grant funding it used for the purchase will need to be repaid to the federal government, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Formby said he’s talking to HUD about repayment requirements and whether interest would be charged.

Also, if the building is sold for less than its original purchase price, the city would need to make up the difference, Formby said. The most recent property assessment put the property’s value at $5.1 million, over $2 million less than what the city bought it for.

But Formby said many discussions still need to be had before the building’s fate is decided. One possibility is to gut it and put in more units to increase its density, but he said he still doesn’t know how much that would cost.

Sustainable Development Goals

The challenges faced by the Waikiki building highlight the importance of addressing affordable housing as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 11 aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. It specifically targets providing access to adequate, safe, and affordable housing for all by 2030. The vacant Waikiki building represents a missed opportunity to contribute to this goal and provide housing for low-income and homeless individuals.

As the city pursues new projects, the longevity of buildings and the cost of their maintenance need to always be considered, Formby said.

“Lessons learned,” he said. “We’re very careful when we acquire buildings to do that forward-looking assessment about property condition and what are the potential costs in the long run.”

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 1: No Poverty
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

The article discusses the challenges of providing housing for low-income and homeless people, which relates to SDG 1’s goal of eradicating poverty and SDG 11’s goal of creating sustainable cities and communities.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular, the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership, and control over land and other forms of property.
• SDG 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

The article highlights the challenges of providing affordable housing for low-income and homeless people, which aligns with the targets of SDG 1.4 and SDG 11.1.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Number of affordable housing units available for low-income and homeless individuals.
• Percentage of housing units in fair condition and ready for occupancy.
• Amount of funding allocated for repairs and maintenance of affordable housing buildings.

The article mentions the number of studio apartments in the Waikiki building that were intended for low-income and homeless individuals, the condition assessment of the building, and the amount of money spent on repairs and maintenance. These indicators can be used to measure progress towards the targets of SDG 1.4 and SDG 11.1.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

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Source: civilbeat.org

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