Gov. Josh Green recently issued an emergency proclamation that streamlines regulations impacting housing development to alleviate the housing crisis that low- and moderate-income families are facing. For many of Hawaii’s families, affordable housing is a much higher priority than a new Aloha Stadium. Yet the planned new stadium would detract from the development of affordable housing.
Green’s emergency housing proclamation is designed to lighten the financial struggles of Hawaii’s families. According to an Aloha United Way study, 44% of Hawaii’s families do not have enough income to cover all their necessities of daily living. Many of them are employed, but Hawaii’s cost of living is so high that they are forced to cut back on food, medication or other necessities.
Housing is the biggest expense in the budget of a typical family, and the governor’s emergency proclamation is intended to reduce their cost of living.
The state has a unique opportunity to build lots of affordable housing on the 98-acre Aloha Stadium site. Plans call for a large mixed-use project adjacent to the stadium, which could include housing. However, there is no commitment to build housing of any kind in the mixed-use project, though there has been informal talk about it. (Information is available on the website of the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District.)
The state intends to contract with a private entity to build the mixed-use project and also to “design, build and operate” the stadium. The selected developer would use the $400 million that has already been appropriated for the stadium. However, it has been estimated that $1.4 billion is needed to design, build and operate it. Admissions to stadium events would add to the $400 million, and the developer would be able to use profits from the mixed-use project to further add to the funding of the stadium.
The transfer of the profits from the mixed-use project to the stadium would detract from the affordable housing that could be built, especially since affordable housing itself typically requires subsidies.
If the mixed-use project were not used to fund the stadium, the potential for affordable housing would be great. Ideas have been floated to build 10,000 affordable homes on the Aloha Stadium site — and even more.
Fortuitously, the Legislature recently passed Act 97 (Senate Bill 865), which establishes a 99-year leasehold program designed to build lots of housing at low cost on state land near public transit stations. The stadium site is state land near a rail station. It is also conveniently located within the Primary Urban Center, which is targeted for development.
Act 97 creates a model for building affordable housing that has been inspired by Singapore and Vienna, where more than 75% of residents live in housing developed by government that will be affordable in perpetuity.
The Act envisions the development of housing to be revenue-neutral to the greatest extent possible. The University of Hawaii has recently proven that the revenue-neutral concept is viable by using it to build two dormitories.
The $400 million currently appropriated for the stadium could be repurposed to fund Act 97 to supercharge the development of affordable housing at the Aloha Stadium site.
It could be a model for the future. The affordable housing could be built in a mixed-use development that incorporates housing for families at all income levels, with stores, restaurants, offices, parks and other urban amenities, all in a walkable neighborhood that minimizes the need for personal vehicles and maximizes environmental sustainability.
The current plan for a new stadium should be shifted to providing affordable housing to Hawaii’s families. Visionary leadership is required.
John Kawamoto is a former legislative analyst, an affordable-housing advocate and longtime University of Hawaii football fan.
