Tenants facing eviction hope state will convert Kauaʻi’s Waipouli apartments to affordable housing

The Courtyards apartments were constructed by owner KD Waipouli in 2009, under the Kauaʻi Lagoons Affordable Housing Agreement. That means the building was subject to a 10-year affordability restriction for 41 units (50 percent).

When the affordability restriction expired in 2019, the units were no longer restricted from market sale or rent.

Over the past four years, rents at the Courtyards have increased 55 percent, and almost all of the original local residents have moved out or become houseless, according to advocacy group Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice.

Affordable housing developer Doug Bigley has submitted an application to the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance & Development Corporation (HHFDC) for the state to invest in the Courtyards and secure all 82 units as affordable for 60 years through the use of federal and state low-income housing tax credits.

Bigley is requesting $43 million from the state to purchase the Courtyards and convert all the units into affordable housing, which includes making them ADA compliant. That’s $525,000 per unit. He also will manage the property.

“It’s already built. We don’t have to wait. It’s ready for $525,000 a unit. That’s a good deal,” community organizer and housing researcher Kenna StormoGipson said. “I don’t think you can get much on the open market right now in the way of $525,000 a unit. And you definitely cannot get that with a 60-year affordability period.”