More affordable housing is coming to West O‘ahu.
The City and County of Honolulu has selected Kobayashi Group as its preferred negotiating partner for the redevelopment of nearly 14 city-owned acres in Kapolei into an affordable, transit-oriented rental community.
Located between Wākea Street and Kamokila Boulevard, the site is “one of the largest city-owned redevelopment opportunities in West O‘ahu,” the city said in an announcement Tuesday.
“Kapolei is one of the city’s most important housing delivery zones,” Kevin Auger, director of the city’s Department of Housing and Land Management, told Aloha State Daily via email. “Leveraging city-owned land in this area, on a parcel of this size, gives us a rare opportunity to build new affordable homes at scale that simply isn’t possible in most parts of O‘ahu. Families in West O‘ahu need more options close to where they work and live.”
The city says the site could support approximately 750 rentals but is not “prescribing a final program at this stage.”
As Auger explains, that means the city sets the goals of “high-quality, affordable rental housing,” but is “giving the developer flexibility to propose the exact mix of units, design and layout that make the most sense for the site.”
The city issued a request for qualifications seeking a developer for the property — known as Kapolei Parkway lots 2-5 — earlier this year. At that time, the RFQ noted that the chosen developer will enter into a development contract and 75-year ground lease for the design, financing, construction and operation of a "future mixed-use, transit-oriented development project with a significant affordable housing component."
According to Tuesday’s announcement, as negotiations proceed, the city will move into an exclusive negotiation period to finalize the terms of a pre-development contract. Other phases of the project include community engagement, environmental review, land-use approvals and financial structuring, the city notes.
The planned project builds on the momentum and success of the neighboring Parkway Village at Kapolei — a 401-unit affordable rental community being developed by Kobayashi Group on adjacent city-owned land.
The first phase of Parkway Village, lot 7, opened last December, offering 169 rental homes and a preschool, the announcement noted. The second phase, lot 6, is still in development and will add another 236 affordable rentals and a second preschool, the city says.
Parkway Village units are available for households earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income, the Kobayashi Group website states. You can find current income limits, which vary depending on household size, here.
“Building on our work in West O‘ahu and the foundation established with Parkway Village in Kapolei, we’re honored and excited to help bring forward additional quality housing options for Hawai‘i residents,”Kobayashi Group CEO Alana Kobayashi Pakkala, said in the announcement. “We’re grateful for the opportunity and partnership with the city as we continue this effort to support families and their keiki and strengthen our community for generations to come.”
Auger says lots 2 to 5 "represent the next phase of creating long-term affordable housing options close to jobs, schools and transit."
Partnering with the development community to build housing on city-owned lands is one of the components of a strategic housing plan the city unveiled earlier this year. You can find the plan here.
Kobayashi Group, a privately owned and managed real estate development and investment firm focused solely on Hawai‘i, has developed a number of residential and commercial projects in the Islands, including Park Lane in Honolulu’s Ala Moana neighborhood. The developer has a number of other projects in the works, including the luxury condominium Ālia in Kaka‘ako and Kuilei Place, an affordable housing development under construction in Mō‘ili‘ili.
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Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
