A state agency hopes to attract competitive bids from developers interested in building a low-income rental apartment tower along with a juvenile shelter and service center on state land in Honolulu.
The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., a state agency that helps finance affordable housing, recently issued a request for proposals to redevelop a run-down former juvenile detention center on 1.5 acres in Pawaa owned by the state Judiciary.
HHFDC is offering to chip in $1.7 million for design work and $15 million for building the juvenile facility, and would lease the site to a developer for 75 years at $1 a year. A winning bidder would in turn lease back the new juvenile facility to the Judiciary for $1 a year and be responsible for financing and operating the residential tower.
The total cost of developing the tower and juvenile facility, including a 250-stall parking garage, could be
$88 million, according to a state Department of Accounting and General Services estimate.
HHFDC anticipates that developers will apply to the agency for additional funds such as affordable-housing tax credits to help finance the tower portion of the project.
The deadline for bids is
2 p.m. Feb. 28, though interested developers must indicate they intend to bid by Nov. 20.
In the offering, HHFDC said the tower should contain about 180 apartments that stay affordable for 65 years and are reserved for residents earning no more than 60 percent of Honolulu’s annual median income. That equates to $43,980 for a single person, $50,220 for two people and $62,760 for a family of four.
Maximum tenant rents under agency guidelines, if apartments were available this year, would be $1,099 for a studio, $1,177 for a one-bedroom unit, $1,413 for a two-bedroom unit and $1,632 for a three-bedroom unit.
Ideas for making better use of the site go back about six years, and the state produced an environmental assessment for the conceptual plan last year.
Kent Miyasaki, an HHFDC spokesman, said a state law passed last year broadened the agency’s ability to partner with other state agencies to produce mixed-use projects.
“This is a perfect application — partnering with the Judiciary to address both affordable housing and juvenile services,” he said. “We see it as an opportunity to redevelop underutilized state land to address both affordable rentals and shelter and services for youth.”
The project site is bordered by Piikoi, Alder and Elm streets, and is within a half-mile of the city’s planned Ala Moana rail station. Two buildings on the site date to before 1949. Previously, juvenile detention center operations on the property were relocated next to Kapolei’s Family Court complex, and only two small programs were maintained at the Pawaa property.
One program is a counseling, school and rehabilitation program for children who violate youth-specific laws such as truancy or curfew, or are low-risk offenders who can’t return home for safety or other reasons. The other operation is a community service and a restitution program for juvenile probationers.
New facilities for these programs are sought under the development plan and should total 34,000 square feet. HHFDC envisions these facilities would be in the lower floors of the tower, though developers have flexibility to propose alternatives to the conceptual design.
HHFDC anticipates making a developer selection in April. After that the chosen entity would need to negotiate detailed terms of a development agreement.
Construction might be ready to start in late 2019 and finish in 2021, according to the environmental assessment.
