Changes are coming to the Ulu Wini Housing Project, and many residents are worried about rising rents and cuts in services.
Changes are coming to the Ulu Wini Housing Project, and many residents are worried about rising rents and cuts in services.
But county officials and the new management company are assuring residents that the new company, Hawaii Affordable Properties Inc., is a large experienced company that will continue providing services to the community. The Honolulu-based company manages 2,612 apartments and 94,000 square feet of commercial space in 33 projects statewide.
“Any time there’s a transition like this, it causes some anxiety,” county Office of Housing and Community Development Administrator Susan Akiyama said Wednesday. “They don’t know what to expect, (but) I have a lot of confidence in the new company. … They won’t skip a beat.”
Akiyama said there are no rent increases associated with the transition.
The 40-unit project on Hina Lani Street in Kailua-Kona, also known as the Kaloko Housing Project, was built by the Hawaii County Office of Housing and Community Development and managed since 2011 by Hilo-based HOPE Services.
The complex provides both transitional and permanent low-income housing for men, women and families. It has 11 two-bedroom transitional housing units, 28 units dedicated to low-income housing, and a resident manager’s apartment.
HOPE is leaving the facility effective Friday, after the county put the management contract out to competitive bid and HOPE and the new management company couldn’t reach a deal.
“HOPE Services didn’t just manage the property, they provided a number of important social services for the families there including working to keep it a drug-free area, providing safe havens for family members experiencing abuse, providing social services including financial training and planning for teens and adults, community support events, including holiday and back to school gift drives,” said a resident who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
The resident said HOPE Services had become more than a management company and more like a member of the community.
“Last year every teen and child received a holiday gift,” the resident said.
A spokeswoman for Hawaii Affordable Properties said Wednesday that the level of service is not expected to decrease under the new management. April Kolii said her company is not raising the rent, but if rents increase, that was a decision by the county.
“Services will continue,” Kolii said.
Most residents wouldn’t see a rental increase anyway, because rents are based on income and the increase will be absorbed by the federal Section 8 housing assistance program, Akiyama said.
“Only when there’s a change in the income would their rent increase,” she said.
HOPE Services Chief Executive Officer Brandee Menino said her nonprofit had been working with Hawaii Affordable Properties to ease the transition since the new contract went into effect July 1.
She said she’d tried to reach an agreement to continue providing social services, but Hawaii Affordable Properties would sign only a month-to-month contract. She had hoped for an annual contract, she said, so she could continue employing staff to provide the support services.
About half the residents attended an informational meeting Tuesday evening, with many expressing concerns, Menino said.
HOPE Services is hosting a “mahalo celebration” at the complex Friday afternoon to bid its aloha.