Hawai‘i County is seeking organizations that can help build new affordable housing on the island or support what it already has.
The Office of Housing and Community Development this week issued a request for proposals for its Affordable Housing Production Program, which receives at least $5 million a year for such projects.
"With this fund, I'd like to see a spur of out-of-the box thinking around homeownership [such as] down payment assistance programs, housing preservation — helping our kūpuna stay in place with low-interest loans or grants that help them to do the renovations or the rehabilitations that they need to their home so that they can age in place," Housing Administrator Kehaulani Costa told Aloha State Daily. "Those are the low-hanging fruit that help our families either stay in homes, or how to extend affordability. I'd like to see creative ways that our developers and our nonprofits can extend affordability of existing housing."
A county ordinance enacted in 2022 requires at least $5 million per year to be allocated to OHCD "to facilitate programs that support affordable housing production." Eligible nonprofit and for-profit organizations, public agencies and community land trusts can submit proposals.
In this round of funding, the county will prioritize projects that will increase the number of housing units for the "gap group," or households that earn between 81% and 140% of the area median income; projects that will support "sustainable homeownership opportunities"; and the preservation of existing affordable housing stock.
Costa says the priorities were developed through a "pretty comprehensive" community survey as well as her input as administrator.
When prioritizing housing for the "gap group," the county says these moderate-income families don't usually qualify for housing assistance programs but still struggle to afford market-rate housing.
There are a number of subsidized programs to support low-income housing but not really a way to address workforce housing. With this fund, though, she says "we're able to be flexible in that way."
When asked about the overall need for housing on Hawai‘i Island, Costa said a housing study is commissioned every five years and the county is in the midst of finalizing a new study she says will capture the current housing needs.
In a "qualitative way," however, "we always have a need for affordable rentals, and we have programs that help support affordable rentals, but we really need to address affordable homeownership."
In fiscal year 2024-2025, OHCD received 13 proposals requesting a total of $48 million in funding, the project website notes. The office awarded nearly $13.3 million for four projects. And in fiscal year 2023-2024, seven projects received approximately $17.3 million in funding.
Proposals, which must be submitted electronically, are due by 4:30 p.m. July 7. Find the application portal at hawaiicounty.gov/ahp.
Two informational sessions are planned via Zoom for organizations interested in submitting proposals — 10 a.m. May 20 (register here) and 1 p.m. May 22 (register here).
OHCD has an Affordable Housing Dashboard you can check out here. According to that dashboard — which shows an inventory of affordable housing projects within the county, including projects owned by private, nonprofit or government entities and developed with funding or support from federal, state or county resources — there currently are 3,568 existing units and 90 existing facilities islandwide, with nearly 8,000 units and 71 projects in the pipeline.
Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
