In late-May the Associated Press reported that California’s legislature is looking to allow developers to build housing units on commercial sites without necessarily changing zoning laws. As many retailers see potentially perilous times ahead (and as Amazon gets ready to put its first warehouse on a 14-acre lot in Sand Island), the time has come to think out of the box- as in the retail store and office building box.
Ala Moana Center has already shown that (pricy) housing and shopping centers can coexist. So as more big box retailers cut their footage in Hawai`i, is it time to consider reasonably-priced apartment buildings on site? While “affordable housing” is a relative term, with parking and existing structures already in place in many neighborhood malls, maybe high-priced infrastructure and material cost reductions would allow for units to be a reality for the “average” household in Hawai’i, perhaps costing under $500,000?
We can’t keep asking rhetorically and waxing poetic about emigration, brain drain, lack of higher paying jobs, homelessness, and the growing at-risk population here. Aloha United Way’s ALICE household acronym stands for Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed. It’s estimated that fully half of our local population is now in the ALICE category, families barely getting by month to month. That number stood at a staggering 595,000 local residents pre-pandemic in January, 2020. These are neighbors, relatives, and friends; working hard, getting by, but without much in the way of savings, retirement funds, or good options if a car or refrigerator breaks down… or if paychecks become unavailable due to economic cutbacks.
Let’s go big or, as they say, let’s just go home; how best to now utilize struggling structures and retail sites? Let’s consolidate under-utilized government buildings and office buildings; let’s retrofit vacated buildings into affordable rentals or apartments. A possible legislative roadblock (in California) is that retail sales taxes provide cities/states with more money than would residential taxes on owned units. OK, figure that into the mix, but it’s a given that emptier office buildings and shrinking retail malls will require new thinking.
Health clinics, homeless shelters, public/transitional housing, community centers, retail fulfillment locations, schools, job training sites, child care, remote offices, off-price retailers, and resident-owned units- the “what if” list must be explored as we considered how best to utilize limited, existing, quality locations in neighborhoods and perhaps near rapid transit. What’s in store? Maybe your next apartment.
Think about it…