New bill creates incentives for developers to build affordable housing on Oahu
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi signed a bill into law Thursday that would provide developers grants to construct affordable housing on Oahu.
Under Bill 1, up to $10 million in grants will be available for eligible housing developers and property owners to build affordable housing on the island.
The new grant money will be offered over the next three years.
“We’re building for locals so our children have a place to move into, save money and climb the housing ladder,” said Ryan Tanaka, a housing developer for Kai Hawaii Inc.
“In addition, this bill will help to expedite economic recovery as we’re trying to navigate out of the pandemic. And we’ve estimated an aggregate $250 million in new vertical construction value from these 30 projects and each project will have between 30 to 50 employees at any given time.”
As the need for affordable housing remains high on Oahu, the city said it hopes the incentive will lead to at least 1,100 new rental units.
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