HONOLULU — The Waikiki Vista, former home of Tokai University and Hawaii Pacific University, is progressing in its new role as a cornerstone of the city’s efforts to combat homelessness and expand affordable housing on Oahu, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Gov. Josh Green announced at a joint news briefing on Friday.
“For our most vulnerable families, this place represents more than just a roof over their heads,” Blangiardi said. “This is a safe space for stabilization where families can be connected with the resources that they need to meet their individual needs. Mahalo to our partners from the state, Catholic Charities Hawaii, our outreach partners and everyone else who collaborated to make this program a reality. This is another big step forward toward our goal of getting more people off of the streets, into more permanent housing, and into our workforce and school systems.”
The city acquired the 19-story, 172,036-square-foot building in 2022 for $37,750,000 using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program.
The property, located at 2241 Kapiolani Blvd., is overseen by the Honolulu Department of Community Services. Housing Solutions Inc. serves as overall property manager and manager of five floors of affordable housing studio units. Catholic Charities Hawaii administers the Hale Imi Ola program — located on four floors of the building — which can provide emergency shelter for up to 33 families or 105 individuals each year.
After stabilizing in the emergency shelter, families can transition to the bridge housing units on other floors, ultimately moving into permanent housing. This bridge housing is expected to assist up to 50 families, or 165 individuals, annually.
As of Friday, the facility has provided emergency shelter and transitional housing to 21 families, including 37 adults and 41 minors. Twenty-three affordable housing units are occupied with five more move-ins scheduled.
The entire facility is expected to fully occupied by the end of the summer.
“We are making significant progress toward housing our homeless neighbors,” Green said. “I thank Mayor Blangiardi for his leadership and his team for continuing to execute, every day, in alignment with state Homelessness Coordinator John Mizuno and the rest of my team, to help the vulnerable among us.”
Green said the early success of the Waikiki Vista was “a great step forward in our collective, collaborative efforts to compassionately house our unhoused people.”
“Waikiki Vista is an important part of our overall homeless and housing strategy,” said Honolulu homeless coordinator Sam Moku. “While we are discouraged to see any increase in homelessness among families, and especially children, we continue to work hard to create more shelter space and affordable housing opportunities for this critical demographic.”
Blangiardi and Green noted that cooperation between city and state has led to an expansion of shelter space and services for the city’s homeless population. The city has acquired the Iwilei Center for homeless services and low-barrier emergency shelter, and a new facility on North King Street will soon provide medical triage services and a kauhale village of tiny homes for individuals and families experiencing homeslessness. The state Behavioral Health Crisis Center has also begun accepting clients for mental health services.
Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.