Designs for a residential tower near urban Honolulu’s Walmart store no longer feature a front door for market-priced condominium buyers and a side door for moderate-income renters.
City Council member Kymberly Pine announced the change Monday after discussions between project developer ProsPac Holding Group and key community stakeholders.
Affordable-housing advocates had raised concerns over the planned building called ProsPac Tower. Some community members criticized the separate entryway for moderate-income renters as a “poor door.”
Pine’s announcement said the “poor door” was eliminated by connecting both entrances via a corridor and allowing apartment and condo resident use of either entryway.
“I am extremely grateful that all parties have resolved their differences and made delivering these highly needed affordable housing units in the heart of the Ala Moana corridor a priority,” Pine said in a statement. “I appreciate ProsPac’s genuine efforts to resolve concerns that were brought forward by the Honolulu public.”
Pine, chairwoman of the Council’s Zoning and Housing Committee, canceled public discussion on the project at a Dec. 5 committee hearing because of concerns over the tower design featuring an entrance for the condos along Keeaumoku Street and a separate, unconnected entry along Makaloa Street for the affordable rentals.
Victor Geminiani, co-director of the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, commended ProsPac for its adjustment.
“ProsPac has demonstrated admirable flexibility in adjusting the design of the building to address concerns of the community,” he said in a statement that was part of Pine’s announcement.
Geminiani previously expressed support for the project but opposed the separate entrances.
According to a city Department of Planning and Permitting report, the tower’s design featured commercial tenant spaces on the first two floors and affordable rentals on levels 3 through 11 except for the ninth floor, where there would be amenities including a pool, theater, fitness center and dog park exclusively for condo residents plus a few condo units. Floors
12 through 41 would contain condos.
DPP recommended approval of the plan.
ProsPac didn’t respond to a request for more detail about changes made to the plan. Before the corridor addition, drawings submitted to the city called for two elevators in a separate lobby on the makai side of the building facing Makaloa Street serving the rentals, and four elevators and another lobby at the mauka end of the building serving the condos.
The tower’s developer must deliver affordable housing as a condition for having the building taller and denser than standard zoning rules permit. Additional height and density can be allowed for projects within half a mile of planned city rail stations provided that extra community benefits including affordable housing are provided.
ProsPac wants its tower to rise 400 feet instead of the 250 feet allowed under standard zoning for the site, and is also asking to have four times as much floor space. These increases are provided for in draft city transit-oriented development rules.
In return for the extras, ProsPac will include 78 affordable rentals in the tower at a cost of $20 million.
These units, nearly all studios with living spaces of 248 to 467 square feet, would be for residents earning no more than 80 percent of Oahu’s median income, which is in the moderate range and equates to $58,600 for a single person, $67,000 for a couple and $83,700 for a family of four. This income level matches the city’s draft requirement.
Maximum monthly rental rates are estimated to be around $1,500 for the affordable units. Affordable rents would last for at least 30 years, which is the city’s proposed standard, and financed without government tax credits.
DPP noted that 78 affordable rentals represents 18.2 percent of the tower’s 429 residences, compared with a 15 percent requirement in draft rules. However, because studios get less than a 1-for-1 credit toward satisfying the requirement, ProsPac’s contribution equates to 16 percent.
DPP recommends that ProsPac provide 19 additional affordable units representing 15 percent of the tower’s bonus density. These units could be available for residents earning up to 120 percent of the median income, DPP suggested.
Pine said a resolution to consider ProsPac’s permit application will be discussed at an upcoming Zoning and Housing Committee meeting, though a date has yet to be set.