Embedded Files
Q. Who is the Hawaii School Facilities Authority (HISFA)?
A: HISFA is a state entity separate from HIDOE established in 2020 that is responsible for
building workforce housing and other school facilities such as preschools and new schools.
Q: Why is the pilot housing project happening at Mililani High School?
A: Act 172 directs HISFA to build affordable teacher housing as a recruitment and retention
strategy to address the teacher shortage. It also gives the HISFA the power to partner with
public and private development agencies to develop housing projects on school lands. The
legislation identified Mililani High School as a site for the project.
Q: Are these workforce housing projects using P3 (public-private partnership)?
A: Yes. It is a P3 and first state teacher housing project with this approach.
Q: Why did HISFA issue an RFP for the Mililani project?
A: Following Act 172, HISFA issued an RFP to find a qualified partner to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the teacher housing project on Mililani High School. HISFA issued the RFP with the following criteria for the chosen offeror:
-“will develop, construct and operate a new rental housing project to be provided at below market rents to eligible teachers and education staff”
-“shall give first priority for occupancy to qualified teachers and persons working in the educational field and or settings, including Department of Education (“DOE”) employees.”
Offerors were “expected to submit a realistic description of how they intend to successfully execute this development effort.”
Q: Will the housing be for Mililani High School teachers?
A: The project targets teachers across the State, including Mililani High School teachers.
Q: What household income was the Mililani project RFP targeting?
A: The RFP defined “Project” as, “A workforce rental housing project consisting of rental units restricted to individuals or families earning less than one hundred twenty percent (120%) of the area median income.”
Q: Did the RFP direct where on Mililani High School Campus the teacher housing project should be?
A: The RFP identified a preferred site and two other alternative sites; however, these sites were not strict parameters.
Q: Is a traffic study required for the proposal to ensure feasibility and number of units possible?
A: A traffic study is not required in the RFP. Typically, an RFP does not require the offeror to prepare or include a traffic study in their RFP response. The proposal is preliminary and subject to change. A traffic study will be conducted as part of the Environment Assessment (EA Process) when the project site is determined and plans are further developed.
Q: Are the rents proposed in Pacific Housing’s proposal affordable?
A: The purpose of this project as laid out by law is to provide affordable teacher housing.
Q: Who is the awardee of the RFP?
A: Pacific Housing Assistance Corporation, a Hawaii non-profit corporation with over 40 years of affordable housing experience, submitted the winning proposal.
Q: Is Pacific Housing’s proposal the final plan?
A: No, Pacific Housing’s proposal is its conceptual plan to meet the requirements of the RFP.
Q: How many units and parking spaces were proposed in Pacific Housing’s proposal for workforce housing at Mililani HS?
A: 109 units and 153 parking spaces were proposed, but these numbers are preliminary and are subject to change. Their proposed site, design, housing layouts, and amenities are guided by market research on current, future, and mainland teachers’ needs. Pacific Housing contracted a local research firm to conduct interviews and focus groups with teachers, to create a housing community that would support teacher residents and help the state retain and recruit teachers.
Q: In its proposal, why did Pacific Housing select a site that was not identified in the RFP?
A: The sites referenced in the RFP were not strict parameters. Pacific Housing’s proposal contains valid justifications for choosing the proposed site over those mentioned in the RFP including:
-Minimizing construction impact on students and campus activities.
-Clean separation of the housing project from campus activities.
-Eliminating use of existing campus infrastructure and roadway commingling.
-Preserving portions of the preferred site for other school uses.
-Providing the school with an opportunity to enhance an existing program and support facilities that would be relocated.
-Maximizing walkability to existing community resources.
-Meeting teachers’ needs as expressed in teacher focus groups.
Q: When will the community be engaged for feedback?
A: In this new type of project, the partner is chosen very early in the process so they can be involved and thus intimately familiar with the details of many of the expected due diligence phases, including the EA, traffic impact study, and particularly community engagement. In this sense the community and all stakeholders can engage much earlier in the process than a typical government project. Pacific Housing began community engagement efforts with teachers through its market research during the RFP process. HISFA and Pacific Housing initiated a stakeholder engagement process starting in November 2024, including meetings with the school’s principal and some teachers and students. HISFA presented project information at the Mililani-Waipio and Mililani Mauka Neighborhood Board meetings and community meetings. Future meetings and presentations will be scheduled as plan progress..
Q: Is there a budget established for this project? What is the estimated timeline?
A: The timeline and budget are of course closely linked and dependent on a cascading set of decisions made as the project proceeds. For example, an EA might compel some design changes, but an EA cannot begin before a final site is selected.
Similarly with a traffic study, site selection impacts the amount of time and effort to lay infrastructure. Therefore, a timeline is yet to be established.
As a P3 (Public-Private-Partnership) the RFP puts the responsibility of financing and budgeting mostly on Pacific Housing, minimizing the need for State monies. Pacific Housing included a budget and timeline for their proposed plan. As the details of the project have still not been finalized, a budget and timeline have likewise not been finalized.
Q: If there are a lot of qualified teachers, what happens if there are more teachers than units?
A: With Hawaii’s high cost of housing, we anticipate demand for affordable housing among qualified teachers to exceed the available units. HISFA and Pacific Housing will develop a fair, equitable process to accommodate as many teachers as possible. The property manager hired by Pacific Housing will manage the applicant pool based on the agreed criteria. If there are more applicants than units available, a lottery will be conducted to place eligible applicants. The remaining applicants will be placed on a wait list that will be retained by the property manager to fill vacant units.
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