Affordable housing advocates continue efforts for Waipouli apartments

“The update is we are still hoping and doing everything we can to raise awareness that this building can indeed go back to its original intended purpose of affordable housing,” said Kenna StormoGipson, director of housing policy for the Hawaiʻi Budget & Policy Center, who also organized the group’s first press conference late last month.

The property is currently on the market by the original owners for $43 million, said StormoGipson during the event.

“When you do the math on 82 units, that’s about $525,000 a unit. Infrastructure is already here. It’s already built,” she said. “It is a solid investment by the state of Hawaiʻi to get affordable housing here as quickly as possible.”

The two-story complex was built in 2009 under the Kauaʻi Lagoons Affordable Housing Agreement, where the owner, KD Waipouli LLC, was required to charge affordable rents for 41—or 50 percent—of the units for the first 10 years after its construction. When the affordability restriction expired in August 2019, the county declined to purchase the property through a first-right-to-purchase clause. The state also decided not to invest.

Rental rates have since increased from $1,800 in 2019 to $2,900 in 2023. The state purchase would drop rates down to $1,600 for a two-bedroom unit, according to StormoGipson.