The 40 rental apartments expected to be completed by May at Kalepa Village in Hanama’ulu are “barely going to make a dent” in the island’s need for affordable housing units, said one of the project’s developers. According to a just-published
The 40 rental apartments expected to be completed by May at Kalepa Village in Hanama’ulu are “barely going to make a dent” in the island’s need for affordable housing units, said one of the project’s developers.
According to a just-published county housing needs assessment, the island will require around 400 new units each year for the next several years to keep up with demand, said John Frazier, executive director of the Kauai Housing Development Corporation.
The KHDC is among the partners in the Kalepa Village expansion, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development project on county land adjacent to the existing Kalepa Village units along Kuhio Highway.
“It’s something. It doesn’t solve the housing problem,” said Frazier of the next 40 units of Kalepa Village. “It helps.”
The under-construction next phase of Kalepa Village will include 20, three-bedroom models; 16, two-bedroom units; and four, one-bedroom units. Three of the units will be handicapped-accessible.
A marketing program for the income-restricted units will begin in February, and the units, 10 apartments each in four buildings, will be completed by the middle of May, weather-permitting, Frazier said.
The units will be slightly larger than the existing Kalepa units, with solar hot-water heaters, gas stoves and gas dryers.
A lottery will be held to choose tenants from those qualifying under income limits set by federal, state and county governments.
Associate Editor Paul C. Curtis may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
