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Volu me 105 Issue 81
UH student works to offer affordable housing on O‘ahu JANE CALLAHAN Associate News Editor A University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Ph.D. student has a task to complete besides graduating: creating affordable, green housing on O‘ahu. With meager funds and no experience in development, R.J. Martin bought land at Lualualei, on the leeward side of the island, with the goal of building a community of 25 homes. After teaming up with people of various experiences, selling his own home and soliciting investors, Martin began to see his dream become a reality. “When we look around our city, we see new luxury condos and self-storage buildings. We don’t see anything built that someone with a typical job could afford … or sustainable-oriented buildings,” Martin said. “In short, the projects and communities that make the world’s leading cities great do not exist on O‘ahu. I believe we can do better than that.” Martin consulted with Sustainable Saunders, a campus group that implemented earth-friendly and cost-effective structural changes to Saunders Hall. He also approached the School of Architecture and the engineering department, but both eventually declined to help, stating that the school could not help a private development. Eventually, a 2010 graduate from the UH School of Architecture helped design core
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This artistic rendering depicts Da Kine Homes, the future sustainable community to be built in Lualualei, in leeward O‘hau. aspects of Martin’s project. Martin partnered with Gil Barden, an ex-Navy SEAL who has been a developer in Hawai‘i on and off for 11 years. They met at an Urban Land Institute conference, and collaborated for two years. “We want to put a good value to the community. We want to be the good guys,” Barden said. There are seven different models of housing within the complex. The smallest model is a three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,000 square-foot home, which will start at $250,000. The largest model, a five-bedroom, 2,304 square-foot home, will cost approximately $455,950. “Comparable homes are selling for $100,000 to $150,000 more,” Martin said. “Our homes are a steal
for quality and location.” Adjacent to Ulehawa Beach Park, the location is also eight minutes from Kapolei by car. With completion of the O‘ahu rail, residents will have easy access to other modes of transportation. Kent Miyasaki, a media relations employee of the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation, spoke about the company’s involvement with the affordable housing. “Part of our mission is to supply affordable housing to keep a workforce,” Miyasaki said. “The homes are for that gap group of essential workers.” Miyasaki said that projects like this help to prevent Hawai‘i’s “brain drain,” a situation in which educated and valu-
able workers leave Hawai‘i due to the high cost of living, opting to live in a more affordable area. Eligible families must fall within a certain income. A typical applicant could be a family of four with a household income of $111,000. The homes will include a solar water system and Energy Star appliances. The development process itself is also lower impact, since builders are using the existing grade for drainage. Solar photovoltaic systems will be offered to buyers upon acquisition of their homes. The development has been far from easy for Martin, who recently had to make a decision between affordability and sustainability. To stay within the budget, he had to forgo some of the green
elements of the houses. Barden says overblown costs tend to hinder the greening progress of development, explaining that a solar heating system costs around $2,000, but business often charge up to $7,500 for its installation. “Since our homes are not permitted, design changes can still be made,” Martin said, adding that he would need further investment to make it all possible. From fi nding suffi cient investors to paperwork and permit applications, “every aspect of the project, every single day is a hurdle,” Martin said. “It’s not a glorious job,” Barden said. “It sucks the energy right out of you.” Nonprofit and government subsidies have kept the houses in an affordable range for buyers. Because the project must meet certain requirements to qualify for exemptions and aid associated with green and affordable housing, there are stipulations for buyers. To keep real estate speculators from using the homes for their own personal profit, the government will automatically have the fi rst chance to buy back homes that are owned for less than 10 years. In addition, home owners cannot rent out the properties.
Green development: affordable homes on O‘ahu.
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