A planned housing development for teachers in Mililani is still on schedule.
Construction on a 95-unit workforce housing project at Mililani High School is set to begin late next year and be completed by late 2029. After an environmental assessment of the project was completed last month, project managers are now seeking permits and funding for the development.
Audrey Awaya, executive director of project developer Pacific Housing Assistance Corp., told Aloha State Daily that the company is still determining the full cost of the project and working on securing funding from the state and private sources.
However, the environmental assessment published in May lists an estimated development cost of approximately $80 million.
The project began life in 2023, when the State Legislature tasked the Hawai‘i School Facilities Authority with developing workforce housing for teachers in an effort to improve teacher retention in a state with soaring costs of living.
“Teachers who come here are discouraged by the cost of living,” Awaya said. A DOE survey in 2025 determined that more than 40% of DOE employees are considered “retention risks,” and could leave the state within five years because of housing costs.
The Mililani project won’t necessarily be exclusive to teachers, but Department of Education teachers and staff will be given priority. The units will be available to households making up to 120% of the area median income.
Initially, the development was pitched as a 109-unit project, but a change in the project site required it to be downsized slightly to 95 units, with 56 one-bedroom and 39 two-bedroom units.
The initial site for the project was located on top of an agricultural field used by Mililani High School, which stirred controversy among students. Instead, the project site was moved to a 1.9-acre lot on the corner of the school campus, near the ballfields on Meheula Parkway.
Currently, the site contains a 48-stall parking lot and little else. The development will include a 150-stall ground-floor parking lot for residents, while Mililani High School will be required to relocate the existing lot elsewhere on campus.
The development itself will be a four-story residential building elevated above a parking lot with about 150 parking stalls. Also on-site will be an “Amenity Hale,” including a recreation room and other services.
Awaya said the residential building will also include a teacher resource room where teachers can collaborate on lesson plans and other projects. The entire development is pet-friendly and will be fenced off from the greater Mililani High School campus.
The publication of the environmental assessment means the project team can refine the project’s design. Awaya said the project will apply for building permits this summer.
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