Building modular homes is a quicker and less expensive solution for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to reduce the number of applicants on its queue, which now stands at over 29,000.
A 196,000-square-foot hangar in Kalaeloa has been proposed by lawmakers to be purchased by the department and transformed into a manufacturing facility that would create modular housing units that are 10% to 15% less expensive than traditional building. The University of Hawaii currently owns the hangar, which is used to house police and fire service helicopters.
Once beneficiaries are granted a land lease, homes will be built at the complex and sold to them.
The amount of money that lawmakers should pay DHHL to purchase the hangar has not yet been decided. The current assessed value of the land beneath the hangar is $4.4 million. Renovating the hangar would cost an additional $4.8 million, according to Department Director Kali Watson.
For decades, DHHL, which is responsible for housing Native Hawaiians, has battled to supply adequate housing lots to those on its waiting list. Many of these individuals have passed away before being granted a lease on property that was promised to them by a federal statute that dates back 100 years.
Many Hawaiians have had trouble financing the construction of new homes when DHHL land parcels became available. According to the government, an Oahu factory could create up to 40 homes each month, and modular construction would provide a more affordable option.
Watson told lawmakers earlier this month that if we find the savings are significant, it might be our preferred strategy.
The department intends to collaborate with Colorado-based Fading West, an off-site homebuilding company. In Hawaii, it has already completed the construction of 82 houses for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to locate in Lahaina.
The homes were shipped from Fading West’s plant in Buena Vista, Colorado, and were ready for occupancy approximately four months after FEMA’s order, according to Eric Schaefer, the company’s principal business development officer.
According to Schaefer, DHHL would build its own homes that wouldn’t appear out of place in a community in Hawaii, whereas the ideas on the Fading West website are intended to blend in with Colorado architecture.
The modular dwellings are produced in a manner similar to an automobile factory assembly line. According to Schaefer, Fading West modeled its procedure after Toyota’s auto manufacturing methodology.
“We’re building two- (and) three-bedroom homes instead of Corollas and Camrys,” Schaefer stated.
Homes designed by Fading West and DHHL are expected to be up to 15% less expensive than those constructed on-site in Hawaii I. DHHL might save almost $75,000 by creating a 1,000-square-foot modular home, as new homes in Honolulu currently cost more of $500 per square foot to build, according to the construction cost calculator from the consulting firm Rider Levett Bucknall.
Fading West intends to carry out a 24-home DHHL pilot project in Maui. The houses would be constructed on the mainland and transported here, where Maui contractors would do the electrical, plumbing, and roofing work.
In the past, the building industry opposed prefab housing because they were concerned that building cheaper homes would result in lower wages for construction workers. However, the industry’s position appears to have softened as a result of the haste with which people were relocated during the Lahaina wildfire.
The only state agency to testify on Senate Bill 1553, which proposed to purchase the hangar, was DHHL. So far, there has been no pushback to the law.
Three years ago, the agency received a historic $600 million cash infusion. The majority of that funding has gone toward homelands initiatives throughout the state, and this year the agency is asking the Legislature for an additional $600 million.
After passing the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, SB 1553 will now be put to a vote by the entire Senate.
___
The Associated Press partnered with Honolulu Civil Beat to distribute this story after it was first published.
