City announces new affordable housing in Chinatown

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) –Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced plans for a proposed high rise in Chinatown Tuesday.Halewai’olu Residences will be a 151-unit, mixed-use high rise set to be built on River Street, makai of Vineyard boulevard.  The one and two bedroom units will be long term rentals for seniors 62 and older.”Now is the time to move forward, to build more affordable housing, long term senior housing on our limited city lands,” said Caldwell.All of the units will have an area median income of 80% or lower, with rents in the range of $450-$1000 per month.

The building will have a three story parking garage, and plenty of recreation space–from activity rooms, to an open space, and a pet park.

“[There] will be a 10,00 square foot community center that’s opened up to the entire community, then there’s also going to be about a 2000 square foot retail center,” said Monika Mordasini of The Michaels Development
Company.

Plans call for photovoltaic rooftop panels, and natural lighting and ventilation.

“We can build a lot of units here and bring a lot of people to the site, but reduce the impact of this building on the city’s infrastructure, we know that’s a challenge,” added Adam Woltag of WRNS Studio.

The project is estimated to cost around 50 million dollars.  The developer is just now beginning to look at different ways to finance construction.

The estimated timeframe for delivery is approximately three years, with groundbreaking slated for 2016.