A Year in Review: HOU's Progress on Affordable Housing for Oʻahu
News Release from City and County of Honolulu, December 3, 2024
The shortage of affordable housing on Oʻahu is a long-standing, complex issue that the City has faced for decades. Increasingly high demand for housing, coupled with a decades-low housing supply, limited land, restrictive regulations, and high production costs, have resulted in Honolulu consistently ranking among the most expensive residential rental markets in the nation. This unsustainable situation demands urgent action, and the City is committed to developing and executing strategies that deliver tangible results for its communities.
Central to this effort is the Office of Housing (HOU), which drives housing policy and strategy through cross-sector collaboration. HOU is dedicated to stimulating the acquisition, development, and preservation of affordable housing while also advocating for pathways out of homelessness that lead to permanent housing solutions. In Fiscal Year 2024, the administration undertook significant realignment efforts to streamline housing and homelessness functions, consolidating human services under the Department of Community Services (DCS) and focusing HOU’s mission on housing production and policy.
In 2024, HOU released a revised version of the 2023 Housing Plan, building upon the foundational strategies outlined in the original October 2023 plan, while exploring previously identified approaches with added detail and clarity designed to facilitate more informed decision-making. This updated edition reaffirms the city’s commitment to addressing O’ahu’s housing shortage while providing expanded strategies to facilitate production effectively.
Read the 2024 Revised Edition of the 2023 Housing Plan
This foundational document has guided the City’s housing initiatives and informed key policy decisions, including the assumption of major financing programs like the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) and the Private Activity Bond (PAB) program.
These programs, combined with state and federal resources, have been instrumental in driving housing production. In FY 2024, the City awarded $123 million through the PAB program to support the construction of 428 new affordable rental units and made $8.3 million available through AHF for projects poised for rapid development.
Kūhiō Park Low Rise and Homes Redevelopment in Kalihi (302 units)
Kaleimaʻo Village in ʻEwa Beach (126 units)
The City’s housing efforts extend to enhancing public-private partnerships and advocating for legislative changes. During the 2024 State Legislative Session, the administration supported landmark policies like Act 45, which authorizes mixed-use developments, and Act 37, promoting the adaptive reuse of underutilized commercial buildings. These initiatives align with the City’s commitment to streamlining development processes and increasing housing supply while maintaining affordability.
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) has emerged as a cornerstone of the City’s long-term strategy. The City, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration, is actively building Honolulu’s rail transit system, and the first segment of the rail line opened for interim service in June 2023. When fully complete, the system — which we call Skyline — will bring rail transit service to the island of O‘ahu and expand transportation options for low- and moderate-income communities, connecting employment and residential centers from Kapolei to Ala Moana Center, next to Waikīkī.
Renderings of the Kūwili Station TOD area
Ordinance 09-04 established the City’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) program, enabling the creation of special districts around each of the stations under City jurisdiction along the Skyline route. TOD plans for these special districts have been prepared and adopted by the Honolulu City Council to provide opportunities for higher density development with a mix of residences, commercial and retail shopping outlets, and employment centers, creating thousands of jobs and homes while reinvigorating Honolulu’s urban core.
With the commencement of Skyline’s operations, the administration is moving swiftly to activate these TOD areas. The City recently acquired two properties in the Kūwili Station TOD area: the former First Hawaiian Bank property, on N. King St., and the Iwilei Center property. These acquisitions closed in December 2023 and January 2024, respectively, totaling nearly five acres of land with a combined purchase price of nearly $60 million. These acquisitions will form the catalyst of the City’s redevelopment and revitalization efforts around the Kūwili Rail Station consistent with the area’s approved TOD Neighborhood Plan.
Image of the Iwilei Center parcel
In recognition and support of these effort, in October 2024, the City was awarded a $2 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) — the largest of the ten awarded nationwide — as part of the 2024 Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning, funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In addition, the City was also awarded a State Capital Improvement Planning Grant of $700,000 for master planning of the Iwilei area by the State Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.
Images of the former First Hawaiian Bank property on N. King St, and the Kūwili Station TOD area
These grants will support the City’s ongoing efforts to activate TOD plans and deliver affordable housing in higher-density TOD-zoned areas around Skyline stations — underscoring the potential for enhancing affordable housing and transit access while building a more resilient, sustainable Iwilei-Kapālama community.
“We are thrilled to receive this significant federal investment in the future of Honolulu’s rail corridor,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “With this funding, we can enhance our community’s access to affordable housing and transit options while creating a more resilient, sustainable Iwilei-Kapālama community.”
The Iwilei-Kapālama area, a historically underserved community, faces considerable economic and environmental challenges, including vulnerability to climate change and sea-level rise. The TOD plan will identify ways to address these issues by creating inclusive, transit-connected spaces that reduce dependency on cars, increase resilience, and build community. The award underscores the strength of a collaborative partnership between the City and the State, led by Governor Green’s Housing Team and supported by the Ulupono Initiative.
“This grant is an investment not just in Honolulu’s transit infrastructure but in the future of Hawai‘i’s communities,” said Governor Josh Green, M.D. “By integrating affordable housing, environmental resilience, and accessible transit, we are working to make O‘ahu a place where everyone can thrive. This partnership between the State, City, and key local organizations highlights our shared commitment to equitable, sustainable development.”
Honolulu’s award was the highest of the ten grants awarded nationwide,.
While we plan for the long-term development of this area, the city and state have been collaborating at the highest levels to address our housing crisis. Governor Josh Green and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi recently launched a joint effort to provide more shelter and supportive services to individuals experiencing homelessness in this area. The Kūwili Station TOD area temporarily houses a kauhale community, which is a state program initiative to provide cost-effective and trauma-informed supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness. An essential part of our redevelopment planning effort for this area will be identifying opportunities for permanent supportive housing for houseless residents. These initiatives are part of a larger effort to reshape Honolulu’s response to homelessness, by providing immediate aid and creating pathways to lasting solutions
Beyond TOD, we are also extremely excited about the potential of Bill 64 (2023), which would permit multi-family residential use in business zones (B-1 and B-2) within the Primary Urban Center, ʻEwa, and Central Oʻahu development plan areas.
Images from accessorydwellings.org
This bill would enable residential lots to host both an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and an ʻOhana unit, provided infrastructure capacity is sufficient to support them. By expanding housing opportunities outside of TOD zones, the bill offers a sustainable approach to increasing housing supply in non-TOD areas.
The adaptive reuse of underutilized commercial properties also offers a practical solution to Oʻahu’s housing challenges. Post-pandemic shifts to remote work have increased vacancy rates in many buildings, creating potential opportunities to convert them into housing faster and more cost-effectively than traditional construction. Bill 51 (2024), introduced by Honolulu City Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam and Housing Committee Chair Matt Weyer, streamlines adaptive reuse projects in alignment with State Act 37 (2024).
Image courtesy of AHL Design
A prime example is 1060 Bishop Street, where an office building and classrooms were transformed into 51 affordable housing units. This project is particularly significant as the first adaptive reuse project to utilize Bill 7 (2019), a key city program that incentivizes development for households at or below 100% of the AMI.
By utilizing Bill 7, the project benefits from zoning exemptions, expedited permit processing, and other incentives, demonstrating how adaptive reuse—supported by Bill 7—can efficiently address Oʻahu’s housing needs while preserving the island’s architectural heritage.
Looking inward, completing the reorganization of the City’s housing functions to consolidate them under one executive department will enable the City to be more efficient and effective in the execution of strategies that can accelerated delivery of housing. The City must play a leading role in the creation of viable solutions and financing alternatives to increase the development of affordable housing to ease Oahu’s housing crisis. This a top priority for the administration and for our team, and creating communities where our residents can thrive — communities where our families can grow, and our workers can live affordably — is the essence of our mission.