COMMUNITY
CORNER Condo News May, and the project’s bank declined to authorize further payment for construction.
Virus Slows Condo Project There’s nothing the clever coronavirus can’t infect, it appears, including the Kakaako skyline. Complications of COVID-19 are listed as a major reason for the delay in construction of a planned 42-story condominium at the corner of Halekauwila and Keawe streets, to be called Ililani. So says project developer Ken Chang, who broke ground last October. Following a public lottery in which 564 applicants sought to buy 165 “moderate-priced” one- and two-bedroom condos, with 163 more two-bedroom units priced at “market,” Chang began signing up new owners in February. Enter the virus, and with an uncertain future, many would-be buyers grew wary of signing purchase contracts. Less than a third of the building had been sold by
Chang, a local architect, told local media he has hopes of bringing the project to fruition with a combination of measures that include increasing the number of moderately-priced units, adding an extra floor of parking and seeking waivers for paying state general excise tax on construction and city water and wastewater connection fees, totaling about $6.5 million. That would not offset costs of about $7.5 million incurred by reducing market-priced units and construction delays, but would allow the project to move forward, with construction beginning in early 2021.
Vertical School Still on Hold Another Kakaako project is also on hold—the long-anticipated vertical schoolhouse at 609 Pohukaina, site of the current Fisher Hawaii store. Tentatively known as Pohukaina School, it would be Hawaii’s first tower-based public school. Planned for a decade, the 10-story school was to be part of a project involving a condo tower of moderate-priced units and was originally supposed to begin construction in 2014, and then again last year. Talks are ongoing between Alaka‘i Development, the state Department of Education, the Hawaii Community
Development Authority and the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., with funding dependent on the Legislature, which recently pulled $20 million because the project is not ready for construction.
Condo Sales Fall Statewide For the second month in a row, sales of Oahu condominiums took a hit from the coronavirus in June, though not as bad as some industry observers had feared. Compared to June 2019, this year’s sales were down 34%, dropping from 473 to 312. The median price fell 2.5%, from $432,500 last year to $421,500. Sales on Neighbor Islands also were down. On Kauai, condo sales plummeted 59% from a year ago, from 41 to 17. The median price fell 11%, from $528,000 to $470,000. Big Island sales fell 48%, from 75 to 39. The median was down 5%, from $385,000 to $365,000. On Maui, condo sales were also down, 46%, from 123 to 67. The median was down 9%, from $554,000 to $503,000. The median is the price point at which half of condos sold for more and half for less. Sources include the Honolulu Board of Realtors, Kauai Board of Realtors, Realtors Association of Maui and Hawaii Island Realtors. ❖
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There’s an elderly woman resident who hoards old newspapers and needs to be checked on. There’s a board member who grumbles about “fake news” and doesn’t want to spend a dime on anything. And there are hurricanes, blackouts, homeless people wandering through, elevators that get people stuck between floors, a protest march in the adjacent park, broken pipes that cause multi-floor floods, spalling falling in the barbecue area, an attempt by Ugandan hackers to get into the association’s reserve account, an unattended death on the 12th floor and somebody’s kid pooped in the pool. All the while, Bella promotes “aloha culture” with staff
and residents. As the pilot episode is winding to a close, with the sound of an ambulance siren coming closer, Bella, a former Army combat nurse, helps a resident give birth in the lobby, and just as she is handing the cooing baby to mama and the staff is cheering, Bella calmly says: “I smell smoke. Security, sound the alarm.” Fade to black. All yours, CBS. ❖ don@tradepublishing.com
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