Groundbreaking ceremony marks start of affordable housing project in Kapolei

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Residents will soon have more options for available housing on West Oahu.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday for new $125 million affordable housing project in Kapolei. 'The Element’ is just off Kualakai Parkway and makai of the H-1 Freeway.

The 318-unit project will have one, two and three-bedroom apartments at market-priced rents. 20 percent of the rentals will be for people who make no more than 80 percent of the area median income.

Officials hope it will help ease Hawaii’s housing shortage as demand continues to skyrocket.

Officials broke ground Tuesday on a new and upcoming affordable housing project in Kapolei.(HNN/Developers)

“Supply is not kept up with demand on affordable housing,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell. “And here in Ho'opili, it’s a lot about building housing that's affordable to middle income, hardworking folks on this island.”

Alakai Development, the lead developer of the project, says it will also be environmentally conscious housing. The mission of the company is “to meet the needs of Hawaii’s housing shortage by developing quality rental residences.”

According to Alaka’i Development founders, there is no set price range for the units yet.

“The beauty of that is that the market will just tell us,” said Cayenne Pe'a, principal and co-founder of Alaka'i Development. “And so, with the apartment renting beginning later this year, it's hard to say right now what those (costs) would be, but we'll hopefully have a better idea later.”

Leasing for the units is expected to start later this year.