At Malulani Hale in Liliha, everyday errands have turned into carefully choreographed missions. Kupuna in the 16-story tower have been squeezing into a single cramped service elevator for months after water damage sidelined the main passenger lift, leaving residents with walkers or motorized chairs planning around tight space and slow trips.
The breakdown started in October, when water from a boiler room flooded both elevators. The building’s smaller service lift was back online the next day, but the larger passenger elevator has been out of commission for roughly five months. Residents say the service elevator can hold only about six standing people at a time, so those using mobility aids often watch it come and go several times before they can ride. They report missed Handi-Van pickups, longer waits for EMTs and even situations where first responders could not fit a gurney in the elevator and had to move a deceased resident out standing upright, as reported by Civil Beat.
Nolan Zane, a property manager with Urban Real Estate Company, said the firm has brought in an elevator consultant and is talking with the building’s insurer and the elevator vendor about ways to speed things up. He cautioned that a full replacement could still take about a year, since parts would have to be manufactured, shipped in and installed, adding, “We’re trying our best,” as detailed by Civil Beat.
Building profile and management
Malulani Hale is listed as a 16-story residential high-rise, a height that turns a broken main elevator from an inconvenience into a serious daily barrier for seniors. Public records identify the tower’s size and list Urban Real Estate Co. as the manager in both the city’s high-rise inventory and a local housing guide. Those listings appear in documents from the Honolulu Fire Department and the Oahu Housing Guide.
Paratransit pressure
Residents say missed Handi-Van rides have piled on the stress, especially when medical appointments are on the line and the elevator situation is already fragile. The Department of Transportation’s TheHandi-Van program describes itself as curb-to-curb shared ride, emphasizing that drivers “do not assume the role of a personal care attendant” and that it “does not provide ambulance or emergency type service.” Those limits mean operators can only do so much when an elevator outage turns a simple pickup into a logistical headache. TheHandi-Van outlines its reservation policies and rider rules on its site.
Not an isolated problem
Honolulu’s kupuna have run into this kind of wall before. Elevator outages in older residential buildings have repeatedly cut off seniors from the outside world, spotlighting a long-standing accessibility gap in aging housing stock. A 2022 local report described another senior complex where a prolonged elevator shutdown left residents stranded and demanding answers, underscoring how one out-of-order lift can quickly become a question of safety and dignity for older tenants, as reported by Hawaii News Now.
At Malulani Hale, residents say they want a clear interim plan, more timely updates from management and real, practical options for those on the upper floors while the repair or replacement process plays out. Property management maintains it is working with consultants and insurers on possible fixes, but for now, the timetable is fuzzy and tenants remain focused on the day-to-day grind of just getting in and out of their own building.
