A new agreement between the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation and the private management company Solar Farm View Estates will keep rental units at the Kulia I Ka Nuu housing complex in Waianae affordable until nearly the end of the century.

What You Need To Know

  • The agreement, effective as of June 30, calls for SFVE to undertake substantial repairs to the complex and operate it for the next 75 years

  • The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation board of directors, which retains the property’s fee-simple interest, approved a $4.9 million, low-interest, 10-year loan to help facilitate the repairs

  • The housing complex includes 72 studio and two-bedroom rental housing units across six residential structures on a 3.74-acre campus located in the Uluwehi subdivision

  • As part of the new agreement, SFVE will undertake a substantial repair program that includes the installation of a photovoltaic energy system; the replacement of all exterior stairwells; and repairs to the roof, electrical, and water heating systems. SFVE will also convert eight studio and two-bedroom units into three-bedroom units in order to better meet demand from Leeward Coast families

The agreement, effective as of June 30, calls for SFVE to undertake substantial repairs to the complex and operate it for the next 75 years. HHFDC’s board of directors, which retains the property’s fee-simple interest, approved a $4.9 million, low-interest, 10-year loan to help facilitate the repairs.

“We are pleased that we are able to keep the units at Kulia I Ka Nuu affordable as a result of this lease agreement,” said Dean Minakami, HHFDC interim executive director. “The team that we are partnering with on this property is led by veteran companies and individuals with proven track records as housing developers and property managers in the Hawaii market.”

The housing complex includes 72 studio and two-bedroom rental housing units across six residential structures on a 3.74-acre campus located in the Uluwehi subdivision. The complex also includes a laundry and maintenance building, a building that once provided shelter housing, a two-story resource center and a vacant 1.27-acre parcel that can be developed.

HHFDC has made 71 of the 72 units will be available to households earning up to 60% of the area median income.

As part of the new agreement, SFVE will undertake a substantial repair program that includes the installation of a photovoltaic energy system; the replacement of all exterior stairwells; and repairs to the roof, electrical, and water heating systems. SFVE will also convert eight studio and two-bedroom units into three-bedroom units in order to better meet demand from Leeward Coast families.

SFVE is a private affordable housing owner-operator formed by local firms Mark Development Inc. and Skyler Pacific LLC, and California-based Pacific Development Group Inc.

“Mark Development and our investment partners are grateful to Governor (Josh) Green and HHFDC for this opportunity to own, rehabilitate and manage this important, westside affordable housing inventory,” said Craig Watase, Mark Development Inc. president.

The SFVE loan is being provided through the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund, which was established by the Hawaii State Legislature to fund housing development programs and regional state infrastructure programs. Among these programs is a permanent loan program for housing projects.

The sale is part of a program initiated by HHFDC in 2013 to divest of its owned-and-operated affordable rental housing portfolio, in part, to free up existing personnel and financial resources in order to focus on its core business of financing and providing development assistance to new affordable housing projects.

Approximately 1,400 units in eight projects across the state have been sold in leasehold to private interests as part of the program, with conditions to renovate the properties and keep them affordable for the long term. The Kulia sale leaves only the 32-unit Nani O Puna project in Pahoa, Hawaii, which is under agreement to be sold later this year, in the portfolio.