Hawaii's housing crisis took center stage earlier this month, as Governor Josh Green, M.D., delivered the keynote address at the Novogradac Affordable Housing Summit in Waikīkī. On Nov. 14, a gathering of housing industry leaders, including developers, lenders, and advocates, converged to commit to resolving what has become an enduring struggle for the state's working-class families to find homes they can afford.
"This convening is so important. We need more people and more investment in affordable housing in Hawai‘i to preserve housing opportunities for our local people," Governor Green said, as noted in a videotaped address featured on the state's website. At the summit, Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority Executive Director Hakim Ouansafi provided details on an ambitious $6.6 billion housing initiative aimed at creating over 10,000 new low-income and affordable units statewide over the next one to one and a half decades, a move considered to be among the largest in the nation by a public housing authority.
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' (DHHL) also updated attendees on their progress towards constructing more than 7,000 homes and house lots over the next ten years, a direct response to a sizable waitlist of Native Hawaiian applicants. "Act 279, which the state Legislature approved two years ago, appropriated $600 million to help reduce the department's waitlist of 29,000 Native Hawaiian applicants and to substantially improve the lives of thousands of kānaka maoli," DHHL Director Kali Watson shared at the event.
Additionally, the governor's housing team debuted the “Hawai‘i Affordable Housing Pipeline Dashboard,” a tool that maps out and tracks progress on hundreds of potential housing projects. Despite the challenges ahead, the dashboard has identified over 60,000 affordable housing units planned over the next decade, with roughly 14,000 units expected to be completed by 2026, offering a glimpse of hope for struggling families desperately in need of relief.
