Applications are open for Ho‘ohiki Senior Living, a 15-story affordable rental tower at 1002 N. School St. in Kalihi. The building has 250 units in total, including one manager’s unit, leaving 249 apartments for residents. It is intended for low-income seniors age 55 and older. Applicants have until October 31 to enter the lottery; Honolulu-based Hawaii Affordable Properties plans to hold the drawing November 10. Later applications will go on a waitlist, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The first residents are expected in January 2027.
Who can apply—and what the rents cover
Every apartment is income-restricted to households earning no more than 60% of Honolulu’s area median income, with some units reserved for households at 50% or 30% of that level. For 2026, the 60% limit is $64,680 for a single person; the 30% limit is $32,340. Reported rents range from $744 a month for a 350-square-foot studio at the deepest subsidy level to $1,984 for an 800-square-foot two-bedroom at the 60% level. The Star-Advertiser reported that rents are tied to annual income limits and that HPHA says the affordability restrictions will remain in place in perpetuity.
The unit mix is 32 studios, 208 one-bedrooms and nine resident two-bedrooms, plus one manager’s two-bedroom. Residents with a vehicle are to receive one parking stall at no added cost. The building also includes shared indoor rooms and an outdoor recreation deck. Application information is available at hoohikiseniorliving.com.
A new tower amid a documented statewide need
Ho‘ohiki adds a sizable senior-focused rental development, but the available statewide planning figure is not a measure of this building’s applicant pool or of current unmet demand. HPHA’s FY 2026 draft annual plan, citing the 2019 Hawaiʻi Housing Planning Study, estimates that about 1,967 units were needed statewide for elderly households earning 80% of area median income or less. That is a study-based estimate of need, not a count of existing apartments or demand for Ho‘ohiki specifically, according to the HPHA plan.
There is also a separate Honolulu example of public support for affordable senior rentals: the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation says construction began in September 2021 on Kokua Senior Living, a 224-unit tower at Alakea and South Beretania streets. Kokua and Ho‘ohiki are both senior rental projects, but they are separate developments; the construction-start record alone does not establish their comparative outcomes or how many households either can serve over time.
The School Street plan changed before construction
Ho‘ohiki occupies part of HPHA’s 12-acre administrative headquarters, replacing older single-story office buildings. The authority’s initial School Street proposal envisioned 800 affordable senior apartments in three phases. The first phase was once expected to finish in early 2024, but design and permitting issues, rising costs and a dispute over pre-development expenses delayed the effort, the Star-Advertiser reported.
In 2023, HPHA transferred the project to California-based Highridge Costa under a 55-year land lease. The first phase’s reported cost rose from $136 million in 2021 to $164 million, with construction costs and interest cited as principal factors. The financing included $35.9 million in Rental Housing Revolving Fund monies and $33.7 million in tax credits, according to Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation board documents. The opening of the lottery marks a practical next step for applicants; the statewide planning estimate and the project’s earlier plans do not indicate how many eligible households will apply or receive apartments.
