Big Island veterans should be able to move into a long-awaited Hilo housing development by September.
The Hale Na Koa ‘O Hanakahi housing project has been under construction on Kawili Street near the University of Hawaii at Hilo campus since November 2022. When completed, the project promises 92 units of affordable housing primarily targeted toward Big Island seniors, with a preference for veterans and their spouses.
Michael Doolittle, board chair of Hawaii Island Veterans Memorial, the project’s primary partner, said construction has only slipped mildly behind schedule since last year. In late 2023, he estimated construction would be completed by June or July of this year, but on Tuesday he said construction likely will be finished in August.
Based on that schedule, Doolittle said residents should be able to begin moving in by mid-September.
When Hale Na Koa ‘O Hanakahi is completed, the 92 units will be split between four two-story buildings, with an included 157-stall parking lot, community center, coffee bar, fitness room, laundry facilities and more.
The project — the state’s first veteran-focused senior living center — has been in development for years, and HIVM partnered with several agencies to receive the $58 million required to complete construction.
“It’s an odd juxtaposition — the phrase ‘affordable housing,’ compared with the cost of doing construction,” Doolittle said. “I think when all is said and done, the cost per square foot of construction is about $1,000.”
Because of the high cost of construction — which has only been exacerbated by inflation over the last few years — a plan for an outpatient medical clinic on an adjacent lot further east on Kawili Street is on hold, and Doolittle said he is unsure when it might be built, if ever.
“We were hoping at some point that the (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs) would be able to use our site for a clinic,” Doolittle said. “But the truth is, the lot was just too small.”
Doolittle said he estimated that the clinic as envisioned would cost about $20 million to build.
“I’m a bit confused as to how that’s ever happening without partnering with someone with deep pockets,” Doolittle said.
For now, that 0.9-acre lot — which, along with the 5.6-acre lot on which the main housing development is being built, is leased from the state — remains undeveloped.
Once completed, California-based nonprofit EAH Housing will take over management of the facility. According to their move-in qualifications, 31 of the 92 units will be available to people making 60% or less than the area median income — with a maximum allowable yearly income of about $42,000 for a single tenant or about $48,000 for a couple.
Thirty-eight of the units are available for those making 50% or less than the AMI, 12 more for those making 30% or less, and 10 are available for those making 80% or less. The final unit is for a manager.
Applications for residents to enter a lottery to determine priority order opened for two weeks in February.
EAH Housing did not respond to requests for comment.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
