Latest news with #StrategicHousingPlan
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Honolulu Council OKs merged housing department
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi's longtime vow to merge the city's real estate and housing agencies into one unified operation has come to fruition. During a special meeting Wednesday, the City Council voted 6-1, with Radiant Cordero dissenting, to adopt Resolution 86, which advanced the mayor's plan to create the city Department of Housing and Land Management. The Council's approved merger—which amends the City Charter via the mayor's executive power to reorganize city departments—will supposedly consolidate key housing and land functions. Those tasks involve the city Department of Land Management, the Mayor's Office of Housing, as well as the city Department of Planning and Permitting and city Department of Community Serv ices, into a single entity with 51 full-time positions, the city said. Kevin Auger, executive director of the Office of Housing since November, has been nominated by the mayor to serve as DHLM's director. Catherine Taschner, director designate of DLM, has been appointed to become the new department's deputy director, the city said. 'This marks the first time in 27 years that the city will have a fully staffed department dedicated to the development of much needed housing, ' Blangiardi said in a statement. 'When I took office in 2021, the Office of Housing had just one employee. Today, we are launching a department built from the ground up—one that reflects our administration's resolve to take action, cut through bureaucracy, and deliver real results for the people of Oahu.' 'DHLM will give us the structure, the scale, and the leadership to do more—and do it faster, ' the mayor added. The new department will feature two major new divisions : a housing development division to lead partnerships on city-owned land, and a housing finance division to create innovative funding tools that reduce barriers to development, the city said. DHLM's formation aligns with the city's 2025-2028 Strategic Housing Plan, released in January, which aims to partner with developers to 'activate underutilized ' city-owned lands on the island and involve using new types of 'financing strategies ' to build more housing on the island. Before the vote, Council member Val Okimoto questioned the city about staffing—including leadership positions within divisions of DHLM that still remain vacant—and the logistics of the new department. 'I think in theory it seems wonderful, (but ) I wonder how feasible this is, ' Oki moto said. 'And in your mind, knowing that we still have some vacancies that you're having to fill, how long do you think you anticipate before you're running efficiently ?' In response, Auger said DHLM 'won't be fully funded until July, ' with the start of the 2026 fiscal year. 'And then obviously, it takes time to identify really good candidates, ' he added. 'We're starting with the top leadership for those divisions, because generally when you hire somebody to lead a division, they can bring other people in under them. But it's still going to take time … and we've got to start somewhere.' Cordero expressed displeasure over the way the new city department was brought to the Council. 'It's been very sloppy, and honestly, as a Council member, I feel like we've been pushed into a corner to pass this as well as putting it into the budget, to also approve of that budget under DHLM, ' she said. 'Council member, I appreciate and respect those comments, I do, ' Auger replied. 'However, the mayor announced this (reorganization ) in the State of the City in 2023, mentioned it again in 2024, and we've been working closely with Housing Committee Chair (Matt ) Weyer on this process. It's been almost two years.' But Cordero shot back, 'That's my exact question to you : Why are we doing it in March 2025, with 60 days for the Council to pass it ? We could have had it even at the end of last year, and introduced it in March of 2025.' Auger replied, 'The simple answer to that is it's important. It's not an issue of trying to jam the Council.' 'No, ' Cordero retorted, 'you jammed the Council.' Council Chair Tommy Waters—who has expressed support for the merged department—recently requested the city administration provide a list of all city-owned properties on Oahu. In a written response Tuesday, city Managing Director Mike Formby told Waters the city does not have easy access to records regarding city-owned properties. 'The responsibility for properties was decentralized in 1998 following the disbandment of the former Department of Housing and Community Development, ' Formby explained. He'd note that one of the goals of the reorganization 'is to aggregate all housing programs and properties, particularly affordable housing programs and properties, into DHLM for centralized reporting consistent with the Charter.' Formby said the inventory of city-owned properties is maintained on the city's Enterprise Resource Planning System, or C2HERPS, platform. 'Unfortunately, that platform lacks a user-friendly interface for sortable data review and reporting, ' he added. Still, Formby said city staff are working 'to aggregate and update data from various departments, which is distinctive and incomplete in its existing format, to create a comprehensive database as required ' by City Charter. He noted the requested 'database will be maintained in DHLM.' 'In closing, I apologize that we are not presently able to deliver the requested update, ' Formby said, 'but we are working in good faith on what we agree is a necessary database for both Council and the administration, and we will update Council as we make improvements.' At the meeting, Waters said his April 8 request for a list of city-owned properties was related to affordable housing. 'The reason it's important is I'm asking each of the Council members to look at city-owned properties in their districts that we can identify for affordable housing, ' he added. Although he received Formby's response, Waters asked, 'Do you have any more information on when we can expect that list ?' 'I don't, Chair, ' Auger replied, 'I can certainly follow up on that and get back to you on that.' Waters said, 'The idea is we want to help you build affordable housing.' And he added, 'If we don't know what properties we have, it makes it that much more difficult.' In response, Auger said, 'We do have an inventory of property ; it's just not really accessible in the way that we'd really like to see it be accessible.' Auger asserted that 10 city-owned properties have been identified for up to 2, 500 units, 'which is more than we can currently finance.' Council members Augie Tulba and Andria Tupola were absent from the meeting.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Audit reveals Honolulu rail system falls short of ridership goals
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Honolulu's new rail system, Skyline, has not met expectations, according to a recent audit by the city audit examined the system from its launch in July 2023 to December 2023 and revealed a 77% decline in ridership. Honolulu's Strategic Housing Plan pinpoints six key initiatives They said contributing factors include the limited service area, inadequate operating hours, and a lack of integration with other transportation options. The audit also found that commute times on the rail are slower than driving and similar to bus travel during morning peak hours. 13 things to know about Hawaiʻi before you visit For instance, a trip from the University of Hawaii-West Oahu to the University of Hawaii-Manoa, involving both the rail and bus, took 87 minutes, while the bus alone took 69 minutes and driving took 68 minutes. Safety concerns around rail stations were also highlighted in the report. 46% say tax returns essential for 2025 budgeting The audit offered 10 recommendations to the city for improving the rail system. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news The city stated it is currently reviewing these recommendations and considering ways to address them. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Strategic Housing Plan for Oahu is launched by city
In what the city describes as bold and unprecedented, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi's administration this week publicly announced its plan to expand construction of more housing across Oahu. Coinciding with the mayor's second four-year term, the city's Office of Housing released its 2025-2028 Strategic Housing Plan, which aims to partner with developers to 'activate underutilized ' city-owned lands on the island and involve using new types of 'financing strategies ' to build more housing on the island. And the city's plan also calls for the merger of the existing Mayor's Office of Housing with the existing city Department of Land Management—to create the new Department of Housing and Land Management—to supposedly centralize and streamline the city's development, finance and policy efforts. The same plan would consolidate all homeless and transitional housing functions under the city Department of Community Services, the city says. The plan, which does not offer an overall number of new housing units the city expects to develop on the island, will supposedly lay the groundwork for such development in the coming years—or at least as long as the Blangiardi administration remains in office. The mayor's second and final term ends in 2028. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. 'This is about us moving from planning to execution, and a lot of our next term is going to be about doing precisely that, ' Blangiardi said during a news conference inside Honolulu Hale Wednesday. 'But I can't think of anything more profound or important for us in the city's involvement in what we're going to do to create housing.' The mayor's news conference also featured a few 'special guests '—namely, representatives from large developer firms including Kobayashi Group LLC, Stanford Carr Development LLC, and Castle &Cooke Hawaii, among others. City officials outlined the housing plan's key initiatives :—Expand transit-oriented development, or TOD, via Skyline to create high-density, mixed-use communities along its nearly 20-mile route. That effort would concentrate growth—housing, offices, retail, education, and government services—in Hono lulu's primary urban center. The TOD corridors would reduce commute times, lower transportation costs, and support Hono lulu's sustainability goals.—Activate Skyline's Kuwili Station TOD Redevelopment Area. The plan states the city and state's land holdings in the Iwilei area—where the Kuwili Station is planned—will help 'improve connectivity, address environmental concerns, and mitigate flood risks.' The plan envisions thousands of housing units within a mixed-use district, backed by $2.7 million in federal and state grants for infrastructure and master planning.—Accelerate housing development by leveraging underutilized public lands and streamlining procurement processes to expedite partnerships with local developers.—Enhance housing finance strategies. City officials say existing funding sources for affordable housing, including general obligation bonds, private activity bonds, and the Affordable Housing Fund—Ordinance 7-19—are limited. The city is currently exploring new financing strategies—some derived from other cities and counties on the mainland—to expand opportunities for housing development here.—Improve housing policies and processes with support from the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, or UHERO. To that end, city officials say they will conduct a comprehensive review of housing programs and policies. A new set of recommendations is expected by late 2025. At the news conference, Office of Housing Executive Director Kevin Auger said the housing plan—released to the public Friday—is the first time the city has 'addressed our affordable housing crisis in over 25 years.' 'It provides a road map outlining direct actions that the city will be undertaking to facilitate the production of housing on Oahu, ' he said. 'But more than that, it represents a fundamental shift toward a proactive delivery model that emphasizes execution, public-private collaboration and strategic investment.' In part, Auger said Skyline will offer TOD housing through urban Honolulu, where the rail will roll into downtown by 2031. 'TOD development concentrates growth and density in the primary urban areas without encroaching on rural areas, ' he said. He added the 'immediate focus ' of TOD projects would be in the Iwilei area, and at the Kuwili Skyline Station, near the old Iwilei Center. In January 2024, the city announced it closed a $51.5 million deal to purchase the Iwilei Center. The transaction will convert the existing center—long home to warehouses, loading docks, offices for lease as well as more than two dozen commercial tenants—to a new, city-owned affordable housing development, the city said. Acquired by the city's Department of Land Management from Iwilei Center LLC, an affiliate of Blacksand Capital, the purchase of the 3.8-acre property includes addresses at 850 and 866 Iwilei Road and 505 Kaaahi St., respectively. 'We believe that conservatively that that area can support 1, 500 to 2, 000 housing units, that's directly located adjacent to Chinatown, it's within walking distance of downtown, ' he said, adding TOD development will reduce residents' 'dependency on automobiles, reducing the cost to support them.' Deemed the first phase of the mayor's new housing plan, Auger said the city has 'an aggressive ' schedule to break ground on the Iwilei development by 2028. He noted the city also owns 10 properties around Oahu—from Waianae to Waikiki—that are ripe for redevelopment. 'The combined total (is ) about 35 acres, ' Auger said. 'We believe conservatively those lands can accommodate close to 2, 600 housing units, including the Iwilei Center development.' He added 'to move these properties into development, we're committed to issuing requests for qualifications to secure development partners for all of these properties for calendar year 2025.' 'The first request for qualifications includes the portfolio of four properties, and that was issued just last Friday, ' he said. But Auger admitted developing housing projects on Oahu could take time—in the case of Iwilei Center, it will be three years before the project breaks ground. 'It takes a long time to get a development off the ground in Hawaii, ' Auger told news reporters. 'Environmental review, planning and permitting, development … and most importantly, getting a line of low-income housing tax credits, if you're building affordable housing.' 'When you look at private activity bonds and low-income housing tax credits, that combination, and you look at the last five years—that program is administered by Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation—that limited resource only delivers less than a thousand units a year on average, ' he added. At the news conference, individual developers did not speak on or address the city's prospective developments. But Council Vice Chair Matt Weyer, chair of the panel's Housing, Sustainability, Economy and Health Committee, spoke to the importance of creating more housing for residents. 'We see the need for resources on all parts of the spectrum, from non-congregate (housing ), to low-moderate income households, to market-rate units, ' Weyer said. 'And we see the need to address the out-migration. It's not just affecting our families, it's affecting our workforce.' After the news conference, Housing Hawaii's Future Policy Director Perry Arrasmith told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that his nonprofit, which advocates for more workforce housing for teachers, firefighters, police officers and health care workers, was impressed with the city's new housing plan. 'This has been something that the city has needed for a really long time, ' he said, 'and now it's going to be a matter of actually implementing this plan.'
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Honolulu's Strategic Housing Plan pinpoints six key initiatives
HONOLULU (KHON2) — 'Affordable housing is a top priority for our administration.' The City released its 2025-2028 Strategic Housing Plan, which looks to tackle affordable housing for all income levels across plan looks to expand development on public land and reorganize how it governs building initiatives. Officials said partnering with developers, maximizing building near transit, tapping into new financing and streamlining oversight into one department are all on the table. Honolulu's newest affordable housing site breaks ground in Punchbowl 'We owe it to our teachers, police officers, flight attendants, and other working professionals to ensure that Honolulu remains a place where they can live, work and thrive,' said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. 'This plan is a crucial step in addressing the rising cost of living and we are committed to building housing where it's most needed.' The City looks to build 'high-density, mixed-use communities' along the 20-mile-long Skyline to reduce commute times, lower transportation costs and support Honolulu's sustainability goals. 'Concentrating growth in the Primary Urban Center, TOD corridors helps preserve rural areas while integrating housing, offices, retail, education and government services. Officials believe the Kūwili Station area presents an 'opportunity for an underserved community' and would be built off of the Downtown Neighborhood TOD Plan. This plan would bring 'thousands of housing units' and would be backed by $2.7 million in federal and state funding. 'The City is leveraging underutilized public lands and streamlining procurement processes to expedite partnerships with local developers.' The initiative was inspired by the success of Parkway Village at Kapolei, which features 401 housing units and two on-site preschools. Due to the limited availability of funding sources for affordable housing, the City would venture out and explore new financing strategies to 'expand resources and create additional opportunities for housing development.' Officials look to group all housing programs under the proposed Department of Housing and Land Management. Centralizing all housing projects would improve efficiency, accelerate project delivery and enhance the coordination of housing initiatives. All housing programs and policies will undergo a comprehensive review to narrow in on which strategies are working and which ones are not. City officials will partner with the University of Hawaii's Economic Research Organization to determine the best ways to optimize land use, increase homeownership opportunities and enhance predictability. Check out more news from around Hawaii 'This plan is all about making City lands available, breaking down barriers, and getting much-needed housing built quickly and efficiently. By prioritizing implementation and collaboration, we're ensuring that Honolulu's working families have access to the homes they need and deserve,' explained Kevin D. Auger, Executive Director of the Office of Housing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
