The Sunshine Blog: If The Iceman Commeth, He Better Drop That Mask

Short takes, outtakes, our takes and other stuff you should know about public information, government accountability and ethical leadership in Hawai‘i.

Originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat; click here to read the column on civilbeat.org.

By The Sunshine Blog | February 18, 2026

I’ve just seen a face: One of the first bills to pass the state Senate and move to the House this session comes in response to the brutal federal immigration crackdowns that have drawn national ire in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and other “blue” locales. Senate Bill 2203 would prohibit anonymous policing for all levels of government but with important exceptions.

One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Sen. Karl Rhoads, took to the Senate floor Tuesday to explain that those exceptions include when undercover work is involved, when protective gear for various hazards is used, and for cops riding motorcycles. It also allows masks in law enforcement situations as long as at least one officer shows his or her face.

“Events on the continent have focused attention on law enforcement practices, and we’d like to avoid the abuses that have been seen on the contiguous 48, and this bill will help,” said Rhoads.

All 22 of Rhoads’ Democratic colleagues voted in favor of SB 2203, including its primary author, Stanley Chang. But the three Republicans — Brenton Awa, Samantha DeCorte and Kurt Fevella — opposed the measure. And some of the only testimony in opposition came from the Honolulu Police Department.

If the House moves as smoothly and expeditiously on SB 2303 as did the Senate, the anti-mask measure (one of nine that were introduced this session) could be one of the first bills to make it to Gov. Josh Green’s desk for his expected signature. Cue photo op in the Capitol’s fifth floor Ceremonial Room.

Police inquiry: The Honolulu Police Commission continues its search for a new police chief to replace Joe Logan, who retired somewhat abruptly last summer. The executive search firm, Public Sector Search & Consulting, wants people to fill out an online survey, which The Blog was sorry to see is not the most user-friendly form.

Still, the survey is just one of the first steps the consultant and commission are taking toward community involvement. It asks three basic questions seeking your views on what professional and leadership qualities the chief should have as well as what you think the priorities for the department should be.

After The Blog found a stronger pair of reading glasses it took about 5 minutes to answer. It’s well worth the time to help get this long-overdue show on the road.

The commission is still predicting at least June before a new Honolulu police chief is selected.

Bench warmers: Gov. Josh Green has a new list of potential judges to choose from, these for a spot on the Intermediate Court of Appeals. The last The Blog heard, the governor is also still mulling over who to pick for the chief justice post on the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court.

Green has less than 30 days left to fill the ICA opening from the names sent to him by the Judicial Selection Commission. The lucky winner will also need to be confirmed by the Senate.

News junkies will recognize at least a couple of the finalists. One is Dan Gluck, now a deputy corporation counsel for Honolulu. He is a Harvard Law School graduate and perhaps best known as the former director of the Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission and former ACLU legal director.

He was also up for the Court of Appeals in 2021 but ran into a turbulent confirmation process when objections were raised over race and gender on the ICA. Gov. David Ige chose Gluck as his nominee over several women, including a Native Hawaiian woman who was also a judge (Gluck had no judge experience.) Gluck ended up gracefully backing out saying he recognized and appreciated the concerns, just as the Senate voted against his confirmation.

Another perennial judge wannabe on the ICA list this time is Lance Collins, a Maui attorney. He is also on the list for the current Supreme Court chief justice gig. And he was on the list for ICA in 2021 when the Gluck controversy erupted as well as in other years.

Others on the ICA nomination list are Nickolas Kacprowski, a partner in the Dentons law firm. He’s been on the finalist list before too, as recently as 2025.

The fourth finalist is Robert Nakatsuji, a deputy prosecuting attorney for Honolulu.

Help wanted, and ASAP: Three watchdog agencies critical to keeping politicians and lobbyists in line are desperately in need of new blood, all at a time when the nefarious role of money in politics is in the headlines practically every day:

Amendment to bill could resume HCDA's 99-year leasehold project in Kakaako

Originally published by Pacific Business News; click here to read the article on bizjournals.com/pacific.

By Nichole Villegas | February 11, 2026

At the beginning of last year, the Hawaii Community Development Authority acquired two plots of land in Kakaako at the corner of Ward Avenue and Kapiolani Boulevard for the development of a mixed use and mixed-income residential building with units for sale under a 99-year ground lease. But the project was put on pause a few months ago due to economic concerns within the housing market including the amount of buyer interest.

However, Senate Bill 2061, introduced this legislative session by Sen. Stanley Chang, would remove or modify the restrictions attached to the leasehold in hopes of making the units more feasible and marketable to buyers, HCDA Executive Director Craig Nakamoto told PBN.

The two properties owned by HCDA are currently home to a Jack in the Box, located at 875 Kapiolani Blvd., and the Galiher Office Building at 610 Ward Ave., which has a mural of former President Barack Obama painted on side of the building.

The land, totaling 26,626 square feet, was acquired in January 2025 as a pilot for the HCDA’s first 99-year leasehold program under which affordable and market condominium units on state-owned and county-owned land in urban redevelopment sites would be sold to qualified residents under the leasehold.

“It's kind of another tool in the toolbox to try to address the shortage of housing, especially workforce housing,” Nakamoto said. “If this works in Kakaako, it could be a tool that we could use in other parts of the island.”

The leasehold program was introduced and passed through SB865, introduced by Chang in 2023, which also appropriated $1.5 million to HCDA for the pre-development work.

HCDA acquired the land from Howard Hughes Holdings (NYSE: HHH) through a non-cash consideration or purchase price of 163,000 square feet of floor area, which translated in dollars to $12.22 million, based on an agreed-upon value of $75 per square foot.

“The property was appraised at $15 million so we purchased the property for less than appraised value,” Nakamoto said.

Developer Ko Laila LLC was selected to develop the pilot project, which would provide 370 units, with 60% set aside as reserved housing for residents earning at or below 140% area Median Income, which for a family of four in Honolulu is $212,800. The other 40% of the units would be sold as market rate, and there would also be commercial space in the development.

As the developer completed its due diligence three to four months ago, which included looking at the current market, the developer and HCDA agreed to put the project on pause before moving to presales, which would have been the next step.

The reason for the pause was due to concern for buyer interest in the units, mainly because of increased buyer uncertainty in the economy, high interest rates and competition from two other projects in Kakaako – Stanford Carr Development's Kahuina and Castle and Cooke's Waiakoa, which both offer fee-simple, instead of leasehold, affordable units for sale.

Due to the rising cost of construction, the cost of the leasehold units compared to the fee simple units in the other projects, would have been too close to justify the restrictions that come with a leasehold.

The 2023 bill introduced by Chang imposed stricter restrictions than HCDA’s usual two to 10 year living requirement and shared equity. It states that all units under the 99-year leasehold must be owner-occupied as residential use in perpetuity for the entire lease.

The new bill introduced by Chang would adjust the owner-occupant restrictions to only be applicable to the reserved units and would reduce the owner-occupant timeline requirement to 10 years instead of in perpetuity.

“That made a lot of sense,” Nakamoto said, “because to have the market units subject to that “in perpetuity,” was going to make the market units unsellable, too.”

However, the bill stipulates that at the time of the initial sales, 100% of the units in the project, market and reserved, must be offered for sale for owner-occupied residential use only. But, after 60 days, if there are any unsold units, up to 40% of the market units may be sold to Hawaii state residents without the owner-occupant requirement.

With a total development cost of $279 million, the average cost to build one unit is $740,000, Nakamoto told PBN. The reserved units would be priced at $368,100 to $644,700 for a one-bedroom and $650,000 to $725,300 for a two-bedroom. The market-rate units would be priced at $879,200 to $974,200 for a two-bedroom, $957,300 to $1.21 million for a three-bedroom and $1.33 million to $1.4 million for a four-bedroom.

In comparison, the affordable units in Kahuina, which are open for presales, range in price from one-bedrooms starting at $598,888, two-bedrooms starting at $692,800 and three-bedrooms starting at $839,900.

The bill has passed first reading and was referred to a committee on Jan. 22, and if the amendment passes into law, Nakamoto said HCDA will begin presales if the market conditions are right. If the pilot program is a success, then the plan is to replicate it for other HCDA-owned sites.

State lawmakers weigh public funding for Michelin restaurant guide in Hawaii

Originally published by Pacific Business News; click here to read the article on bizjournals.com/pacific.

By Virginia Noone | February 9, 2026

The state is considering a proposal to spend state money to pay for the creation of a Michelin Guide covering Hawaii restaurants in an effort to boost tourism.

Senate Bill 2072 proposes funding from the state's general fund go toward Michelin — the organization that awards Michelin stars — to evaluate Hawaii restaurants and publish an official guide. A Michelin Guide would give restaurateurs in Hawaii a chance to earn a coveted Michelin star rating.

The Michelin Guide, owned by the French tire manufacturer, is the world’s most widely recognized authority on fine dining. Michelin Guides are usually created only when a government or tourism authority pays for the guide to exist in that region. The creation of a guide is often done as a strategy to increase tourism.

It’s unclear exactly how much bringing a Michelin Guide to Hawaii would cost — other states have paid varying sums, as there does not seem to be a standard price.

In Florida, which received its first round of Michelin stars in 2022, the state’s guide was funded with more than $1.5 million from state and city tourism budgets, according to an investigation by The Miami Herald.

In Atlanta, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau paid as much as $1 million to bring the Michelin Guide to town, as reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

According to Hawaii’s SB 2072, the money would come from state general revenues. The bill leaves the dollar amount blank, which is common in early versions of bills. The actual amount would be decided later during the budget process.

The funds would be handled by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Supporters often argue that creating a Michelin Guide can boost prestige and visitor spending, while critics sometimes question whether public money should support a private rating system.

The Hawaii Tourism Association is one of the groups supporting the bill, according to the HTA’s public affairs officer, Jill Radke.

The bill, which passed first reading on Jan. 26, is slated for a public hearing at the Senate's committee on Economic Development and Tourism on Tuesday.

Hawaii Senators Take Aim At Developers With Vienna-Style Housing Crackdown

Originally published by Hoodline; click here to read the article on hoodline.com.

By Erin Collins | February 4, 2026

Developers using public funds to build affordable rentals may soon be required to reinvest extra profits into new housing rather than keeping the earnings, under SB2194, a proposal described as inspired by the "Vienna model." Advanced on Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Housing, the bill aims to tighten eligibility for the state’s Rental Housing Revolving Fund, ensuring that the funds continually support the creation of additional affordable units instead of being diverted as developer profits.

Committee moves bill toward second reading

The Senate Committee on Housing voted unanimously to recommend SB2194 for second reading, with Chair Sen. Stanley Chang joined by Sens. Troy Hashimoto, Brandon Elefante and Karl Rhoads. Chang cast the measure as a way to stop developers from walking away with a "windfall profit" instead of using public support to build more units, according to Maui Now.

What the bill would change

SB2194 would restrict eligibility for Rental Housing Revolving Fund awards to government agencies or organizations that are legally obligated to reinvest any financial surplus, aside from development fees, back into housing construction. The bill's findings cite the state's 2006 purchase of Kukui Gardens for $132.5 million as a touchstone example and note that roughly 15,000 affordability restrictions across the islands are set to expire by 2100, according to the bill text on LegiScan.

Why supporters invoke the Vienna model

The "Vienna model" centers on limited-profit housing associations that can generate a surplus but must funnel those funds into building or preserving more affordable homes instead of distributing profits to owners. Sen. Chang has promoted ALOHA Homes and limited-profit housing ideas as part of that broader strategy. Supporters say this kind of setup turns public investment into a self-sustaining development cycle, while analysts warn it will have to be carefully tailored to Hawaii's existing financing tools and housing market realities. Background on the approach and Chang's plan is available from Sen. Chang's office.

State housing agency raises concerns

Hawaiʻi Housing Finance & Development Corp. Executive Director Dean Minakami told lawmakers he is concerned that requiring "all" surplus to be reinvested could narrow the pool of eligible applicants and threaten the financial stability of smaller nonprofits. He suggested that legislators consider a specific reinvestment percentage or clearer parameters that would hold projects accountable without making it impossible for organizations to keep their doors open, according to Maui Now.

Next steps and stakes

The measure now heads to the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee, where senators will have to decide how strict they want to be about reinvestment rules and how the policy would work in practice. The Rental Housing Revolving Fund is administered by the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance & Development Corporation and currently provides low-interest equity-gap loans to qualified projects, according to HHFDC. Lawmakers, housing providers and nonprofits will be watching Ways and Means to see whether it keeps tight reinvestment requirements or moves toward a compromise that preserves enough financial room for developers and nonprofits to keep building.

Hawaii lawmakers to confront housing affordability, tourism volatility in 2026

Originally published by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; click here to read the article on staradvertiser.com.

By Allison Schaefers | December 28, 2025

Hawaii’s housing crisis is often described in numbers, but for state Sen. Stanley Chang, it’s personal.

His father, an immigrant from China, bought a home on one state salary. Today, Chang says, it would take him 40 years of his full salary to buy that same house — a stark example of the generational pressures reshaping Hawaii.

Those pressures are mounting as the state faces a predicted mild recession next year, and as Hawaii lawmakers head into the 2026 legislative session to confront housing affordability, tourism volatility and shifting job markets.

More than a decade after the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization urged investment in economic security, health care, pensions and children, its latest report shows that Hawaii’s elder population is growing faster than expected. By 2035, 1 in 4 residents will be 65 or older, and by 2050 the gap between what seniors consume and what they earn is projected to nearly double.

A key finding is that the number residents 75 and older — “super seniors” who require far more medical and long‑term care — is growing significantly, said UHERO professor emeritus Andrew Mason, who authored the report “Aging and Hawaii’s Generational Economy,” along with Michael Abrigo, a research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

Hawaii, Mason warned, is not prepared. Aging creates “pressure across generations,” with fewer workers supporting more seniors and fewer children.

Mason described the interdependence between generations as a “whole system of shifting resources” that is “very complicated,” and he noted that “we don’t know as much about it as we should,” even as population aging is poised to strain it further.

He argued that policymakers often ignore these linkages: “What we do with regard to seniors is going to rebound back onto children,” and changes affecting workers “are going to affect seniors.”

Gov. Josh Green’s supplemental budget reflects the mounting strain.

His $10.58 billion proposal for fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1, is up from $10.48 billion from fiscal 2026. It boosts spending on infrastructure, construction, housing and health care, and leans on $903 million in new bonds to stabilize the economy amid rising costs and federal uncertainty.

Rep. Adrian Tam (D-­Waikiki), a 33-year-old millennial, sees the consequences in his district, where 48% of residents are seniors.

“When you lose younger people, you lose support for seniors,” he said. “Who is going to staff our hospitals? Who is going to drive the Handi-Van?”

Economic security

Mason said that economic security for seniors depends heavily on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, all of which face sustainability challenges. He added that the shift from pensions to 401(k)s has increased individual risk in retirement planning. Pensions have a defined benefit, but 401(k)s carry more risk to individuals because they depend on contributions and investment performance.

Mason pointed to the Hawaii Retirement Savings Program, projected to launch in mid-2026 to provide a retirement savings option for private sector workers who do not have access to an employer-sponsored plan. It’s a step toward greater security, Mason said.

Mason said better jobs and flexible work arrangements for seniors would empower some to keep contributing to the economy and improve their own economic security.

Younger workers face their own barriers.

Tam said Hawaii must create better jobs and pathways to homeownership; even as a legislator, he couldn’t afford a home until his early 30s.

He supports expanding the film industry, strengthening tech tax credits, reducing the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands waiting list and cracking down on illegal vacation rentals — a recurring issue before the House Committee on Tourism, which he chairs.

At 43, Chang is at the upper end of the millennial generation, so he relates not only to the pressures facing younger millennials like Tam but also to those experienced by Gen X—such as juggling the needs of aging parents while raising children.

Chang (D-Hawaii Kai, Kuliouou, Niu, Aina Haina, Waialae-Kahala, Diamond Head, Kaimuki, Kapahulu), said he and his wife, Annie, own a condo but buying a single-family home to accommodate their growing family is still out of reach despite two incomes and parental help.

“Every government elected official says housing is the top priority, but somehow we don’t see the action,” he said. “Hawaii is failing —it’s an F minus.”

He noted that Hawaii has made progress on low income housing — more than $1 billion appropriated over the past decade, with the state now financing about half of all the low-income units built — but that the middle class pipeline “has collapsed.”

He supports a 99-year-leasehold model inspired by Singapore, with state-built or state-partnered condo towers sold at 10%-20% below market. “Like Costco gas,” he said. “Cheaper, not free.”

Chang said he also supports expanding lower-interest rate programs so that more buyers can qualify.

Lawmakers are considering changes to the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund, which is managed by the Hawaii Housing and Finance Development Corporation , to help more Hawaii residents become homeowners. HHFDC partners with developers of for-sale projects by purchasing a portion of equity in designated units for qualified buyers.

Buyers pay a reduced upfront price and, when they sell, pay HHFDC a prorated share of the unit’s appreciation.

‘Cradle-to-grave’

Spending on children and education declined between UHERO’s 2012 and 2022 studies, a trend Mason warned “will bite us back,” since today’s children are tomorrow’s taxpayers and caregivers.

“Protecting low-income individuals across all generations should be a priority,” he said. “Public programs remain the primary source of support, and community-based solutions alone are insufficient.”

Mason said property tax reform could help better fund education as property taxes go to the counties, while the state funds public education.

State Sen. Sharon Moriwaki, (D, Waikiki, Ala Moana, McCully, Kakaako), who is vice chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, said the state must adopt a “cradle-to-grave” approach to shoring up its generational economy. Housing solutions, she said, must be paired with workforce development and stronger education. She cited Ready Keiki, minimum wage increases, paid internships, career advancement programs and partnerships between the University of Hawaii, the state Department of Education and employers.

“Kids need careers, not just jobs,” she said.

She added that schools must teach practical life skills and that the state should shift toward prevention, citing wellness models that emphasize staying healthy to reduce long term costs.

Health care faces both funding and workforce challenges, particularly in caring for the elderly.

Moriwaki said her own baby boomer generation faced hardship, but today’s landscape is marked by a deeper disconnect — employers struggling to hire, young people unable to find work in their fields and schools that continue to prioritize academics over practical life skills.

She said lawmakers added financial literacy to public education requirements, and now need to consider adding health planning.

“Our kids need to learn how to live well,” she said, a discussion that she said has come up in her yoga classes.

UHERO associate professor Colin Moore said investment across generations — especially working families — is essential. “If working families can’t see a future here, they’ll leave,” he said. “And once they go, they rarely come back.”

But he warned that the people Hawaii most needs have the least ability to influence the system. Working-­age people rarely have time to testify, and Hawaii lacks a strong advocacy organization for them. As a result, policies like paid family leave stall year after year.

Chang said Hawaii’s younger residents, who are not yet voting age, also need more consideration. “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,” he said.

Moore emphasized that the core issue is not generational conflict but interdependence — how the stability of seniors and children relies on retaining a strong base of working-age residents. As federal programs face long-term strain, he expects the Legislature will confront even harder trade-offs.

“If it’s not addressed, it’s only going to get worse,” Moore said.

Is Senator’s Affordable Housing Plan Happening? Depends Who You Ask

State authority says market conditions and project requirements put Aloha Homes on the shelf. Sen. Stanley Chang says the Kakaʻako development remains underway.

Originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat; click here to read the article on civilbeat.org.

By Jeremy Hay | December 23, 2025

The Jack in the Box at a busy street corner in Kakaʻako displays no hint of state Sen. Stanley Chang’s aspirations to tackle Hawaiʻi’s housing crunch.

Until the end of September, the state-owned property the fast food restaurant occupies at Ward Avenue and Kapiʻolani Boulevard on Oʻahu was clearly a testing ground for a concept Chang has long argued could transform the state’s beleaguered housing landscape.

A constricted housing supply and sky-high real estate prices are blamed for contributing to Hawaiʻi’s steep cost of living, for driving locals to find cheaper housing elsewhere, and as a factor in high rates of homelessness.

Chang has pushed his Aloha Homes idea as a solution since at least 2018 — attracting some national attention for it along the way — saying it was a way to develop housing faster, less expensively and more efficiently.

The Jack in the Box property seemed to indicate his idea had gained traction. Now that’s uncertain.

Aloha Homes — for Affordable, Locally Owned Homes for All — is modeled on Singapore’s system of government-run public housing, home to about 80% of that island nation’s population. In Chang’s version, Hawaiʻi residents, regardless of income, could buy condominiums at below market prices with leasehold terms, under which the properties would revert to government ownership after 99 years.

Development costs would be recouped through unit sales, making projects “revenue neutral” so funds could be plowed into new projects, Chang said.

The idea inched ahead. In 2023, the Legislature allocated $1.5 million for preliminary Aloha Homes planning. Then, a breakthrough: Gov. Josh Green included $15 million for it in his 2026-2027 budget.

“I anticipate this will be the first 99-year leasehold, revenue-neutral project in the state of Hawaiʻi and it will hopefully be a big success and spawn the construction of many more,” Chang said during a briefing on housing legislation he held for the public after the 2025 legislative session.

Now, nearly a year after it won Green’s support, Chang’s vision may have faltered again, although the senator says it hasn’t.

The head of the state agency charged with shepherding the project forward said it’s on hold, and that he let Chang know.

“We had really high hopes for this. When I say that, I’m not giving it the kiss of death,” said Craig Nakamoto, executive director of the Hawaiʻi Community Development Authority. “All it is saying is, we’re going to take a pause. Maybe in two or three years we can resurrect this project again. Or there’s another type of workforce housing project.”

Chang, though, put it this way: “There’s still a lot more work that needs to be done in the pre-development stage before shovels go into the ground and before the actual building gets built. But it’s underway.”

He told Civil Beat conversations are continuing about how to move it ahead, if perhaps at a slower pace.

“There’s just a bunch of different paths forward at this point,” Chang said.

Stipulations And The Market

Nakamoto said rising construction costs, high interest rates and climbing condo insurance rates are among factors that pushed up the cost of developing the project, to the point where units might not be saleable.

“Our goal, of course, is to develop a product that’s ultimately going to sell in the market,” he said. “If we can’t sell it, then ultimately the project is not successful.”

The project may also have been hampered, Nakamoto said, by some of the signature features of the Aloha Homes concept.

Those included stipulations that condo owners would have to live in their units and couldn’t own other personal or commercial real estate, which they would have to sell within six months of purchasing a unit.

Those conditions were intended to steer the units toward Hawaiʻi residents seeking the opportunity to own their own homes, rather than real estate investors hoping to take advantage of lower-priced condo properties.

According to the minutes of a June 4 development authority meeting at which the project was discussed, it was to have 351 units, 60% of them designated as affordable. That would reserve them for buyers with household incomes between 80% and 140% of the median area income, currently from $85,000 to $149,000 on Oʻahu.

The remainder were to be sold at a “market” rate, with the largest units, which have four bedrooms and three bathrooms, costing $1 million. Comparable neighboring properties were priced at $1.5 to $1.7 million.

Another stipulation of the pilot project was that owners of affordable units would have to share profits from the sale of their properties with the authority. That stipulation wouldn’t have applied to owners of market-rate units.

Together with the 99-year leasehold terms, those conditions might have made the Aloha Homes condos a tougher sell, Nakamoto said.

“As we found out,” he said, “those things could have an impact on marketing and sales.”

‘It Wasn’t Prudent’

Although the authority had spent more than a year laying the groundwork for the project with a prospective developer, the decision was made that “it wasn’t prudent” to move to the presale stage, where the building would be marketed to potential buyers, Nakamoto said.

Chang, though, said those conditions were not set in concrete.

“It needs to be a project for local people, that’s the whole point,” Chang said. “But I think we can talk about different restrictions that we could remove without fundamentally undermining that purpose.”

He conceded the 99-year leasehold terms might be too onerous for some buyers and said he isn’t wedded to that condition.

But he maintained there are many reasons that feature would be appealing. Those include that the leasehold is long enough that original buyers would not have to move during their lifetime. And the leasehold feature drives down costs, so Aloha Homes units would be priced considerably lower than comparable properties.

Also, Chang said, leasehold status offers far more security than is enjoyed by one group of potential Aloha Homes buyers — renters who have zero equity in their home and leases that are often month-to-month.

Adjustments Being Made

That the project had been deemed unrealistic even with the community development authority helming it wasn’t a good sign, said Justin Tyndall, an associate professor of economics at University of Hawaiʻi who researches housing.

Beyond construction costs, navigating the bureaucracy, regulatory and permitting hurdles that development projects face would have been key challenges faced by the Aloha Homes project, he said.

“If a government housing program is forced to navigate the same hurdles and uncertainty,” he said, “it is hard to see what advantage it would have over private development.”

At Housing Hawaiʻi’s Future, director of policy Perry Arrasmith said he hopes Chang’s idea can survive, even if it needs adjustments.

“The question we’re going to be asking ourselves in this next (legislative) session is if we want this model, if we want this experiment to continue, then what barriers need to be removed to help push it forward,” Arrasmith said. “We’re going to be looking to leaders like Sen. Chang for direction.”

The development authority is asking the right questions, Arrasmith said, when it comes to whether the special conditions attached to the Aloha Homes project would deter buyers.

“If it wants to succeed, it needs to be as flexible as it can be to market pressures,” he said. “And perhaps that’s where we need fewer restrictions.”

As of December, Nakamoto said nothing in the project’s status had changed and it remained on pause.

Chang, again, said things are moving forward.

Based on hard-won experience nudging Aloha Homes along, he said legislation is being drafted to address some of the issues Nakamoto raised, such as removing the condition that prospective buyers not own other real estate.

“That’s the main initiative right now,” Chang said.

There is also interest in how sales in nearby condominiums go, as an indicator of how strong the market is, Chang said, and he called the slight easing in interest rates in recent months a promising trend.