Not all agree with Chang that such public private partnerships are the answer to Hawaiʻi’s housing shortage.

Kenna StormoGipson is director of housing policy for the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice. She said projects like the UH mixed-use project can “definitely be a good example of what’s possible.”

But she also said it’s important to note that there are public costs associated with the UH housing projects, and public subsidies help keep development costs low.

For example, she said that in addition to public land, there’s already infrastructure in place, which the public has paid for as well. In addition, financing the project with public, tax-exempt bonds is another big boost.

In this context, StormoGipson said, it’s not accurate for Chang to say the projects show affordable housing can be built without taxpayer subsidies.

“His magic words are ‘revenue neutral,’” she said. “My magic words are ‘not true.’”

In addition, she said, it’s hard to find state lands that are not “ceded lands,” property held in trust for the Native Hawaiian people that can’t be subject to long-term leases generally needed for housing projects.

“The state does not have all these magical lands that are not ceded, with the infrastructure that’s ready to go,” she said.