Who will live at the Pāhoa Ridge apartments?

Pāhoa Ridge Apartments will provide 211 critically needed affordable homes for rent to serve kama‘āina families. Examples of kama‘āina whose incomes fall within the affordable housing limits are teachers, firefighters, retail and food service industry workers, are designed to safely manage the traffic flow in and out of the project. Vehicle access has been designed to provide ingress via a “left in” one-way, entry-only driveway from Waialae Avenue and egress via a “left out” one-way, exit-only driveway onto Waialae Avenue. This design restricts cars from attempting to directly access either H1 or Kalele Road by dangerously cutting across Waialae Avenue.

What amenities does Pāhoa Ridge Apartments include?

Pāhoa Ridge Apartments will include two recreation areas—on the ninth floor and a roof recreation deck—for residents. The ninth floor will provide a community room, fitness room, pool, and outdoor patio with lounge area and BBQs. The rooftop deck will offer outdoor furniture, shade structures, BBQs, various landscaped areas, and panoramic views of the surrounding area.

How much parking does Pāhoa Ridge Apartments provide?

Pāhoa Ridge Apartments will have 281 parking stalls. This equates to a ratio of 1.33/stalls per unit.

What is being done to mitigate traffic impacts?

Highridge Costa engaged Austin Tsutsumi & Associates (traffic engineer) to conduct a traffic study and to implement best practices in the project’s design. The project’s ingress and egress are designed to safely manage the traffic flow in and out of the project. Vehicle access has been designed to provide ingress via a “left in” one-way, entry-only driveway from Waialae Avenue and egress via a “left out” one-way, exit-only driveway onto Waialae Avenue. This design restricts cars from attempting to directly access either H1 or Kalele Road by dangerously cutting across Waialae Avenue.

In addition, the project will be installing new vertical delineators at the H1 on-ramp off Waialae Avenue pursuant to the State Department of Transportation’s (DOT) request to add them as a traffic deterrent for safety.

What is the estimated building height?

Pāhoa Ridge Apartments is anticipated to be 28 stories or approximately 250 feet tall.

What efforts will be made to make the Pāhoa Ridge Apartments sustainable?

Pāhoa Ridge Apartments seeks to achieve LEED Silver or an equivalent rating, which promotes sustainability-focused practices in the building industry. To that end, the project will include electrical vehicle charging, Energy Star appliances, solar panels, low-flow plumbing fixtures and other sustainable measures in the design.

What are the estimated rents for units?

Apartment rents are correlated to the incomes of individuals or families based on strict guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC).

Highridge Costa is seeking a 3-track 201H affordable housing entitlement process for the project through HHFDC and the Honolulu City Council. This 3-track entitlement will allow the project to seek financing through three distinct HHFDC funding programs, thereby allowing the project to be developed as soon as possible through the earliest available HHFDC funding program award.

The first priority entitlement and funding track is for rental apartments for those earning between 30-60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The second priority entitlement and funding track is for rental apartments for those earning between 80%-100% of the AMI. Rents for both AMI ranges are shown below:

If the project is unable to secure HHFDC financing awards for either of the rental programs after submitting a minimum of two applications for each program (two years for a total of four applications) then Highridge Costa may continue to apply to HHFDC for the rental financing programs or pursue the third priority entitlement track (a last option), a for-sale affordable/market condominium project. The for-sale affordable/market condominium project requires that at least 50% of the units (106 units) be sold at affordable prices as set by HHFDC and Honolulu City Council.

When is constructions expected to begin?

Pending 201H entitlement approvals and the project receiving an affordable housing financing allocation award from HHFDC in 2024, we anticipate construction will begin in early summer 2026.

How do I apply to live at Pāhoa Ridge?

Pending 201H entitlement approvals and the project receiving an affordable housing financing allocation award from HHFDC in 2024, we anticipate construction will begin in early summer 2026.