East Honolulu, which includes Waikiki, is experiencing the highest percentage increase of unsheltered homeless of any district on Oahu — hastening efforts by state and county officials to bring the region more homeless services and affordable housing even if they have to condemn properties to do it.
The 2022 Point-in-Time count, an annual one-night snapshot of the number of people experiencing homeless who are on the street or in shelter, showed that Oahu’s overall unsheltered population number has plateaued over the past four years with a small decrease since 2019.
But East Honolulu’s percentage of unsheltered homelessness in 2022 has grown to 24%, or 575 of the 2,355 unsheltered homeless people recorded during the March 10 Point-in-Time count, a gain of 6 percentage points from the 2020 count and a 10-percentage-point rise from the 2019 count.
That’s not far behind the downtown region, which at 26% had the largest percentage of the count’s unsheltered homeless. However, the percentage of unsheltered homeless people living in Kalihi, downtown Honolulu and Nuuanu was unchanged from 2019 and down 6 percentage points from 2020.
A shift in homeless people from downtown to East Honolulu has contributed to a 71% increase in the district’s share of Oahu’s unsheltered population since 2019. That figure has state, city, government and tourism officials and nonprofits leveraging resources to get more people off the streets, while reducing harms like increased crime and unsightliness that are associated with rises in unsheltered homelessness.
The Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement, which is housed within the Honolulu Emergency Services Department and sends a dedicated team of first responders to nonviolent homeless emergency calls, has big plans for Waikiki this summer. Honolulu Emergency Services Director Jim Ireland has said CORE is mostly operating between Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and Kahala but that the “next big push is migrating down into Waikiki, because we see what you folks all see.”
Jennifer Nakayama, president and executive director of the Waikiki Business Improvement District, has said WBID outreach ambassadors will join the city weekly this summer as CORE deploys into Waikiki.
The city also has put more than $50 million for affordable housing in its fiscal year 2023 budget and is considering spending some of it on acquiring or condemning Waikiki properties to redevelop for public purposes.
The city already has started condemnation of 1615 Ala Wai, a derelict apartment building sandwiched between the Watermark, one of Oahu’s toniest condominiums, and freshly renovated walk-up apartments.
State lawmakers in the recent session passed Concurrent Resolution 93, introduced by Rep. Adrian Tam (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana- Kakaako), which urges the city to buy 19 properties owned by Okada Trucking at fair market value and earmark them for a higher use.
The properties, which are on Liliuokalani Avenue, Mountain View Drive and Tusitala, Cleghorn and Kapili streets, were never developed, and some of the lots sport an aging concrete foundation complete with protruding rebar that was poured decades ago for a building that was never built.
Tam, who introduced the measure on behalf of frustrated Waikiki residents, said it’s unlikely Okada Trucking will sell the land. However, he views passage of the resolution as a possible step on the road to condemnation.
Tam said nearby residents want a park, a dog park or a parking lot with charging stations for electric cars. Affordable housing also has been discussed, he said.
The rise in unsheltered homelessness in East Honolulu has concerned Honolulu City Council Chairman Tommy Waters so much that he devoted at least half of a recent virtual May 26 Waikiki town hall meeting to the topic.
During that meeting, Laura Thielen, executive director of Partners in Care, which organized the Point-in-Time count, discussed the rise in unsheltered homelessness percentages in East Honolulu.
“We are seeing an uptick in those numbers for (East Honolulu), and we are seeing decreases in other regions across the island,” Thielen said. “Part of that is that family homelessness has gone down significantly in the last several years due to some concerted efforts to work on that subpopulation.”
Thielen said that in Waikiki most of the homeless people recorded during the Point-in-Time count were men living alone.
On Sunday the Honolulu Star-Advertiser noted that most of the unsheltered homeless people who were lying on the grass at Kuhio Avenue and Kaimana Beach and gathered near the oceanfront pavilions and the Honolulu Zoo were men.
The Point-in-Time count noted that the primary self-reported causes of homelessness of those surveyed in the East Honolulu region were substance use and loss of a job. A Section 8 recipient named Frank, who did not want to give his full name because of his checkered past, told the Star- Advertiser on Sunday that the scarcity of affordable housing in Waikiki is also a major impediment to getting people off the streets.
Frank said he has Section 8 rental housing assistance but is having trouble finding a new rental after his previous rental didn’t work out.
“I’m 62, and I’ve been homeless for about half of my life. It took me 10 years to get Section 8. Now I have to find another place or I will lose my voucher,” he said. “If I don’t find a place, it’s back to the streets. What good are affordable housing programs if there aren’t enough places to rent? There needs to be more affordable housing choices in Waikiki.”
Waters told the Star- Advertiser this week that the Council recognizes the critical need for affordable housing and prioritized funding toward that goal.
“In this year’s budget, I am happy to report that we appropriated more than $50 million for the construction of affordable housing and providing home ownership opportunities to local families,” he said in an email to the Star-Advertiser. “In addition to that, we also funded over $23 million for in-patient healthcare and outreach support for houseless families and individuals, and another $2 million for housing and wrap-around services of those fleeing domestic violence.”
In written testimony to the Legislature, Waters said he supported acquiring the 19 vacant lots.
“There are many needs in the Waikiki community, and government should be looking at ways to increase the quality of life for residents and visitors by maximizing the use of vacant parcels,” Waters said in his email. “Given the recent action that the City is taking on 1615 Ala Wai Boulevard, we should take steps to acquire vacant parcels with the support of the Waikiki community in the hopes that we can build places for people to live.”
Waters said he would defer to the city administration to determine the specific method of acquiring the Okada Trucking properties, as well as evaluate whether the city has the budget to move forward.
The city Department of Land Management said it is not yet ready to weigh in on the potential purchase of the Okada Trucking lots, which must be coordinated with several departments. But the department is moving full speed ahead on condemnation of 1615 Ala Wai, which Waters recommended after fielding complaints from Waikiki residents who viewed the long-vacant building’s condition as an eyesore and potential safety risk.
The walk-up apartment building, which has been vacant about 20 years, has a history of complaints with the city Department of Planning and Permitting going back more than a decade. The condition of the roughly 9,500-square-foot, fee-simple property also has resulted in complaints to police.
The city said it filed a condemnation complaint April 12 and deposited “estimated just compensation” of more than $3.04 million with the court, which granted an order of possession to the city April 18. According to property tax records, the owners of 1615 Ala Wai are Norman Nip, a small- business owner who is known for Nip’s Potato Chips, and his brother, Alvin Nip, and sister Donna Chang.
“The parties are currently being served with the complaint and order of possession,” said city spokesperson Brandi Higa. “Possession by the city is not effective until all parties have been served.”
Anton Krucky, director of the city Department of Community Services, said during a Waikiki town hall meeting May 26 that the city plans to use its Affordable Housing Fund to turn 1615 Ala Wai into rental housing for low-income residents.
He said those housed in the building can’t make more than 60% of Honolulu’s area median income, which in 2022 is $54,900 annually for one person, $62,700 for a couple or $78,360 for a family of four.
“We are going to use affordable housing money once that goes through the legal process and is free and can be given to us,” Krucky said.
The Department of Land Management said it issued a notice to proceed May 16 to architectural firm G70, which will conduct a feasibility analysis of 1615 Ala Wai.
G70 will evaluate three alternatives to redevelop the property into affordable housing. The intent is to select a preferred plan from the alternatives and develop it to the conceptual level, which will become part of a request for proposals seeking a developer to design and construct affordable housing on the site.
