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Mark Twain once said there were lies, damned lies, and statistics. As an engineer by training I prefer the truth of mathematics. Math doesn’t lie.

That is, except when it’s falsely applied to market the 801 South Street Tower B development in Kakaako. The developer (Downtown Capital LLC) and Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA) have triumphantly heralded the affordability of this mega Tower project as the fulfillment of the “workforce housing” needs in Kakaako.

We desperately need real affordable housing in this community. However, double checking the math of HCDA’s affordability claims unveils why 801 South Street Tower B is not the solution.

One need go no further than the sticker price. According to the HCDA the maximum affordable cost for a one-bedroom unit is $655,000 and $715,000 for a two-bedroom unit in this development.

Does, the HCDA board, primarily populated by well-heeled building industry executives, really believe that secretaries or cops can afford a two-bedroom unit for over $700,000? Just scraping together the down payment on one of these units would be out of reach for most working people.

So let’s take a look at the developer’s side of the equation.

It’s understandable that creating real, affordable housing in Kakaako is no mean feat. It’s admirable that any serious developer would make an effort to offer housing for the less than affluent classes.

The developer has to balance the need to make a profit while providing units that may necessarily be discounted below market values. However, it’s disingenuous at best and fraudulent at worst to pitch 801 South Street Tower B as some kind of worker’s paradise housing complex. Even a family of four, earning an annual income of $120,000 (the maximum allowed under the law to purchase “workforce housing”) could not afford these units.

If the real workforce can’t afford this housing, who exactly is buying these units?

I believe the public needs to know how well workforce housing is actually working,

In other words, how many actual “workforce” buyers have been actual recipients of workforce housing in Tower A of the 801 South Street project? After all, the justification to destroy more than half of the historic Advertiser building (with a double-high Tower B and 11-story parking structure) is to create reasonably priced housing.

If the developer is to benefit by being granted variances under the pretense of building workforce housing, there should be an accounting for how well this has worked in the past.

This begs the question of whether the HCDA is indeed capable of objectively overseeing the development of Kakaako. With a Governor-appointed board consisting of building industry executives, who is looking out for the average citizen?

In its present composition, the board is biased towards big developers and industry interests. I believe there is inadequate representation from the general community.

With two vacant seats available, there is now an opportunity to choose from any number of interested and highly qualified community members who could participate meaningfully in the process and bring balance back to HCDA’s decision making process.

We desperately need genuinely affordable housing in Kakaako but 801 South Street Tower B is not the answer. This thinly veiled, aesthetically dismal, get rich quick project does nothing for working people it purports to assist.

The HCDA has much to answer for.

About the author: Ariel Salinas is a civil engineer and member of Kakaako Cares, a citizens group advocating smart development in Kakaako. Salina resides with this wife and two children in Kakaako. Read his detailed Affordability Analysis on the subject .

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