One reason Gov. Josh Green enacted an emergency proclamation to speed up residential development in Hawaii was the historically slow pace of state and county affordable-­housing projects.

Such projects, under Green’s order, can be processed differently, and potentially more quickly, than ones by private developers.

In unveiling his set of emergency rules July 17, Green highlighted several state and county affordable-­­housing projects that are part of what he described as being “stuck” in a pipeline of planned new housing.

One, a 550-home project called Lima Ola on Kauai, dates back to 2010 when Kauai County bought 75 acres of agricultural land and has yet to deliver any homes.

Another project highlighted by the governor was a planned 271-unit tower called Hale Moiliili by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands on the site of a former bowling alley in urban Honolulu that the agency acquired in 1995 and spent about a decade contemplating for residential use.

“There are already 50,000 units in the pipeline that are somehow stuck, OK, which gives us an incredible opportunity to unstick them,” Green said at a ceremony announcing the emergency order.

It remains to be seen to what degree the governor’s emergency rules, which are intended to be in place for one year, can speed up state and county affordable-housing projects that sometimes have been slow to move ahead for a long list of reasons.

A 23-member panel called the Build Beyond Barriers Working Group will receive project applications and determine by simple majority vote whether an applicant can use one or more alternate provisions governing zoning, environmental review, historic preservation and other things established by the order.

Nani Medeiros, the governor’s chief housing officer, has a special role under the order as lead housing officer tasked with helping facilitate the effort. Medeiros specifically can decide whether a state or county project can use the alternate regulatory process, or if the working group should do that.

Some regulatory approvals under the rules are to be made by other government officials, such as a county council or county planning director, though the working group is in charge of making certain determinations such as whether a project can avoid producing an environmental impact statement or may follow new alternate historical and cultural protection rules.

Under the emergency order, Medeiros has an option to perform the same role as the working group for state and county projects.

LETTING STATE and county projects proceed under alternate environmental and archaeological protection rules could help advance development timetables. Under Green’s order, projects allowed to use the emergency rules must be “likely” to start construction within three years of approval with a binding term agreement.

Several projects were highlighted by Green as being able to immediately benefit from provisions under the emergency order, including Lima Ola and Hale Moiliili.

Planning for Lima Ola by the Kauai County Housing Agency began in 2011 and was finished a year later. However, the plan was subjected to value engineering revisions done in part to contain costs, according to a 2017 consultant’s report for the agency.

An environmental study, state land-use reclassification and county zoning exemptions — all of which are subject to alternate procedures under Green’s emergency order — have already been obtained for Lima Ola, where 550 homes are slated to be built in four phases that represent the largest affordable-housing project ever undertaken by Kauai County.

The county aimed to begin infrastructure development in 2017, but that didn’t start until 2020. Home construction on an initial phase with 149 units was expected to begin in early 2022, but more delays ensued.

In May, groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the first two increments of Lima Ola homes: 85 rental apartments for families and seniors with low and moderate incomes being developed by Ahe Group, and 24 micro-housing units being built by Shioi Construction for rent to residents who are experiencing homelessness or are at imminent risk of becoming homeless.

The rental apartments are expected to be completed by the end of 2024, according to Green’s presentation.

ON OAHU, DHHL’s Hale Moiliili tower is in the midst of being reviewed by the Honolulu City Council for approval of fee waivers that under Green’s emergency order could be decided by the director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting. The Council’s Zoning Committee on Wednesday endorsed the project, which is being developed by Stanford Carr Development for DHHL.

According to the governor’s presentation, the project, also known as 820 Isenberg, is expected to be finished in 2025.

Two other local government affordable-housing projects were highlighted by Green as benefiting immediately from the emergency rules, which include permission for counties to hire private plan reviewers to process building permits more expediently.

One of the two involves redevelopment of the state-owned Mayor Wright Homes public housing community in Kalihi. The other one is a two-tower project called 690 Pohukaina on state land in Kakaako.

Both of these projects have been plagued by scuttled development agreements with private partners in recent years.

In 2014, the Hawaii Public Housing Authority tentatively picked a team led by Hunt Development Corp. to turn the deteriorating Mayor Wright low-rise complex into a new community with 2,500 apartments mainly in towers with very low- to market-­price rents, a central park, rooftop recreation decks, a community center, retail stores and an early-­childhood public school.

However, HPHA in 2020 terminated its deal with the Hunt group over design, budget and other issues.

Earlier this month, HPHA announced that Highridge Costa Development Co. will lead redevelopment of Mayor Wright and eight other public housing projects statewide where the collective plan is to renovate 1,187 existing units and add 10,880 new homes over the next decade and beyond.

The first phase of this plan called Ka Lei Momi is at Mayor Wright, where 364 homes that are 70 years old would be replaced and 2,450 new homes added.

Highridge also is handling 690 Pohukaina, a project the state initiated in 2012 with a request for affordable-housing development proposals issued by the Hawaii Community Development Authority followed by selection of another development partner in 2014.

The history of trouble with 690 Pohukaina included an attempt by then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie to make it the tallest building in the state, a push by the state Department of Education to have a vertical public school in the building, and denied funding requests by the Legislature.

The current plan for 690 Pohukaina by Highridge calls for developing an initial tower with 431 units followed by a second tower with 194 units. Construction is expected to begin next year.