The developer of a planned rental apartment tower in Waikiki has given the project a name and increased the length of time homes would be affordable to residents earning less than the median income.
Development firm OliverMcMillan, which last year unveiled preliminary plans for a tower at the corner of Kuhio Avenue and Kanekapolei Street, named the project Lilia Waikiki and said it will exceed new city affordable-housing requirements.
The company committed to provide 20 percent of the project’s 455 homes, or 91 apartments, for residents earning no more than 80 percent of Honolulu’s medium income and maintain affordable rents for this demographic for 30 years.
Previously, OliverMcMillan proposed making 20 percent of apartments affordable to the same group for 15 years.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed a bill in April that overhauled city affordable-housing requirements, but the new ordinance doesn’t apply to the OliverMcMillan project because it is rental housing. However, the City Council typically seeks an affordable-housing contribution for projects that are denser and taller than zoning rules permit.
OliverMcMillan is seeking to exceed the 260-foot height limit for the site by
25 feet and make the tower 37 percent more dense. The tower also would encroach slightly on transitional setbacks that dictate how far from a property line upper portions of the tower should be.
Affordable homes under OliverMcMillan’s proposal would include 38 studios averaging 385 square feet of living space, 44 one-bedroom units averaging 500 square feet of living space and nine two-bedroom units averaging 900 square feet of living space.
Maximum tenant incomes would be $65,350 for a single person, $74,650 for a couple and $93,300 for a family of four if units were available this year. Corresponding maximum monthly rents under city standards would be $1,352 for studios, $1,527 for one-bedroom units and $2,031 for two-bedroom units.
“Hawaii is faced with a housing crisis and we feel that rentals are a part of the housing solution,” Kris Hui, OliverMcMillan’s director of development, said in a statement.
The name of the tower, Lilia, means lily in Hawaiian and was given in reference to a favorite flower of Queen Emma. OliverMcMillan is leasing the project site from Queen Emma Land Co., the steward of land once held by Queen Emma. Income from the company’s real estate holdings, which also include land under International Market Place, benefit health care provider The Queen’s Health Systems.
Lilia includes 402 apartments in the tower and renovation of 53 existing rental homes in four low-rise buildings on the Diamond Head side of Kanekapolei Street.
If OliverMcMillan obtains necessary approvals, the developer anticipates starting construction next year and finishing in 2021.
