Proposed Ala Moana luxury condo approved
Aug. 10—The Honolulu City Council gave final approval Wednesday to a planned condominium tower near Ala Moana Center with a condition that new affordable rental apartments be provided nearby for twice as long as typically
required.
Council members voted 8-0, with Radiant Cordero absent, to approve terms for the project called 1538 Kapiolani Tower proposed by an affiliate of JL Capital with 331 condo units on a site occupied by a single-story commercial building.
Under a condition, JL will produce 101 affordable apartments on two nearby sites where rents must remain affordable for 60 years to households earning up to 80% of the median income on Oahu.
JL agreed to the 60-year
period, which is double the standard 30 years for rentals used to satisfy a city affordable-housing requirement for transit-oriented projects that can be granted extra height, density and other things regulated by zoning near planned city rail stations.
The Council's decision followed recent months of contention largely between people with real estate and construction interests supporting the project and members of the Unite Here Local 5 hotel and restaurant workers union who held demonstrations calling for JL to provide bigger affordable housing benefits.
"I heard from both sides throughout this process, and I concur that it's very challenging to make decisions for these projects," Council member
Esther Kia'aina said at the
meeting before the vote. "But we do have an objective to increase the number of affordable housing units for the people of the City and County of Honolulu."
The scope of affordable housing to be provided in connection with Kapiolani Tower represents more
than the developer initially proposed and more than
the city Department of
Planning and Permitting
recommended.
Under city rules for transit-oriented projects producing affordable rentals on a separate site or sites, the requirement is to make 15% of all residential units affordable to households earning no more than 80% of the median income. An additional discretionary amount of affordable homes also is required as a community benefit.
In JL's application accepted by the city in December, the developer proposed 101 affordable units, or 23.4% of 432 total units, but at two different levels and lengths of affordability.
JL initially offered to provide 87 units with rents affordable for 30 years to households earning no more than 80% of the median income, and 14 units with rents staying affordable for households earning up to the median income for
15 years.
Of the 101 apartments,
64 would be produced by converting an office building at 765 Amana St., about a block mauka of the tower site, into 36 studios, 20 one-bedroom units and eight two-bedroom units. An additional 37 units would be built at 1564 Kalakaua Ave., where a pair of two-story buildings with six residential rentals would be redeveloped with 24 one-bedroom units, 11 two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units.
This year, 80% of the
median income under city calculations equates to $73,360 for a single person, $83,840 for a couple and $104,800 for a family of four.
Corresponding maximum monthly rents range from $1,563 for a studio to $3,193 for a three-bedroom
apartment.
DPP noted in an April report that the proportion of affordable units proposed for the 400-foot-tall Kapiolani Tower was similar to approved transit-oriented development projects in the Ala Moana area, but said the affordability terms for all units should meet the general city standard for such required affordable housing.
That standard, for rental apartments, calls for a
30-year term with rent affordable to households earning up to 80% of the median income.
"This should be a condition of approval," DPP said in its April 12 recommendation to the Council.
Local 5 officials pushed for more, arguing that 101 apartments with rents staying affordable for 30 years don't meet housing needs of working families enough.
At a July 12 Council meeting reviewing JL's project, Local 5 official Ben Sadoski said, "The applicant is seeking significant entitlement bonuses for a luxury condo project including a floor area ratio four times the density of what the zoning would normally allow and a height that's 150 feet over the underlying zoning. What we need right now is significant, truly affordable housing on Oahu, and we don't feel the benefits offered here significantly justify these variances."
Later, Council member Calvin Say, who represents the Ala Moana area and chairs the Council's Zoning Committee, proposed that all 101 rental units have affordable rents for 60 years.
At a July 26 Zoning Committee meeting, Isaiah Sato with planning firm R.M. Towill Corp., representing JL, said the developer supported the change and thanked Say and his staff for working closely with JL representatives to reach an agreement.
Local 5 representatives told committee members that the increase was appreciated but that more still should be done, including increasing the number and size of affordable units.
The committee voted 5-0 to amend draft project approval terms to include Say's recommended change.
Before Wednesday's Council meeting, around two dozen or so Local 5 members and supporters demonstrated outside Honolulu Hale holding signs calling for better public benefits from the project, including one that stated "Luxury developers need to give more" and another one proclaiming "1538 Kapiolani is not good enough!"
Council members disagreed, and a couple praised Say for his negotiations with JL.
"He negotiated an extensive period of affordability," Kia'aina said.
Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam also expressed appreciation for Say's work, and noted that converting an office building to some of the affordable rentals is a good use of real estate that doesn't displace residents.
A DPP representative said JL will have to deliver the affordable units before the market-priced condos.
