Joint Committee Briefing on Affordable Housing Using County-Owned Land - May 1, 2026
Joint Committee Briefing on Affordable Housing Using County-Owned Land - May 1, 2026
On May 1, 2026, the Joint Committee on Executive Management and Housing Homelessness and Parks Peace held an informational briefing presented by Patrick Spence, Program Manager for Economic Mobility at the National Association of Counties (NACo). The briefing focused on the Counties for a Housing Solutions program, which explores using publicly owned land to develop affordable housing. Councilmembers discussed feasibility, site selection, and next steps with Mr. Spence and Gavin Thornton, Housing Policy Director for the Department of Housing and Land Management (DHLM).
Discussion Items
- Presentation on County-Owned Land for Affordable Housing: Patrick Spence presented a strategy used by counties nationwide, notably Miami-Dade County, where vacant or underutilized public land is leased to developers for mixed-use projects. He estimated that building on public land in Honolulu could reduce the cost of a one-bedroom apartment by approximately $150,000 per unit (from $520,000 to $370,000), freeing up fiscal space for community amenities or deeper affordability. He identified a promising pilot site near the Pearl Ridge Skyline station, owned by the city, capable of supporting at least 600 housing units with potential for childcare and senior centers. He also noted that larger land parcels, such as school sites (e.g., Jefferson Elementary), could unlock larger-scale projects but would require state partnership.
- Councilmember Questions and Concerns: Councilmember Tolba asked about using parkland and parking lots along rail stations in Waipahu for housing, and expressed frustration that developers could not pencil out projects on TOD land. Mr. Spence explained that cross-subsidization from high-end units is often necessary. Councilmember Cordero sought advice on navigating government complexity, and Mr. Spence highlighted Honolulu's consolidated city-county structure as an advantage. Councilmember Dos Santos Tan examined the financial modeling, asking about soft costs, financing, and the ability to reach 60% AMI units. Mr. Spence noted that achieving lower AMI targets requires cross-subsidization from market-rate units or additional public subsidy. Chair Waters asked about internal staff capacity at DHLM for feasibility studies; Mr. Thornton could not answer but committed to relaying the question.
- Department of Housing and Land Management Response: Gavin Thornton acknowledged that DHLM is focused on the Ewa Central site but is exploring other properties. He noted that DHLM has issued requests for qualifications for the sites listed in the city’s strategic housing plan. Councilmember Tupola pointed out that only two of the ten listed sites fall in her district and questioned how sites were chosen, suggesting that the plan may need refinement. She urged DHLM to move concurrently rather than sequentially. Mr. Thornton cited real-world constraints on staff capacity and resources. Chair Waters and Councilmember Tupola both stressed the need for realistic staffing and clear prioritization.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or decisions were taken during the informational briefing.
- Councilmembers expressed strong interest in advancing the Pearl Ridge pilot and using the NACo model to generate affordable housing, but emphasized the need for a thorough feasibility study and clear prioritization of sites.
- Chair Waters requested that DHLM provide proposed amendments to Bill 35 (leasing city properties) after months of delay. Mr. Thornton said he would follow up with the deputy director.
- Councilmember Tupola noted that the strategic housing plan may need to be narrowed to two or three actionable sites rather than ten.
- The committee agreed that continued collaboration between the council, DHLM, and NACo is essential, with a future briefing from DHLM Director OJ expected.
Meeting Transcript
Aloha and good afternoon. Well, the Joint Committee on Executive Management and Housing Homelessness and Parks Peace come to order. Welcome members, uh committee co-chair Waters, Councilmember Cordero, Councilmember Nishimoto, Okimoro, Tolba, and Councilmember Dosantos Tan. Council members Kiaina and Wire are excused. Although remote oral testimony is being permitted, this is a regular in-person meeting and not remote meeting by interactive to conference technology under HRS Section 92-3.7. Therefore, the meeting will continue notwithstanding loss of audiovisual communication with remote testifiers or loss of the public broadcast of the meeting. Members of the public will be allowed to provide oral testimony on all items on the agenda in person in the council chamber remotely when agenda item is taken up, as both English and Al Hawaii are official languages of the state of Hawaii, pursuant to Article 15, Section 4 of the Hawaii State Constitution and Section 1-13 of the Hawaii revised statutes. Members of the public may testify in either language. For all testimonies offered in Alala Hawaii, additional time may be necessary and will be allowed for the testifier to provide an English translation of their testimony. Before testifying, each person shall state their name. Each speaker may not have anyone else read their statement and is limited to a one-minute presentation on each item. Once in-person testimony has concluded, I will proceed to those who have registered to testify remotely by video conference. When your name is called, please monitor your screen. Activate your audio feed when prompted. Please utilize the raise hand feature in Zoom to be called on. For those joining us by telephone only, please press star nine to indicate your desire to speak. I will identify you by last three digits of your phone number. When your number is called, please press star six to unmute yourself when prompted. Some friendly reminders and tips. Video conference from a quiet location if possible. If you are watching the proceedings on Olelo, please mute your television at the time you are called to testify. When the timer on the screen reaches zero, please conclude your remarks promptly. Written testimonies, including the testifier's address, email address, and phone number will be available to the public as described on the posted agenda. As a courtesy, please turn off all and silence cell phones for the duration of this meeting. Council members, we are on to agenda item number one, informational briefing presented by the National Association of Counties on the Counties for a Housing Solutions program. I turn the time over to Council Chair Waters. Thank you so much, and thank you for doing this joint committee uh meeting together. It's really excited to introduce you all to Patrick Spence. He's the program manager and of economic mobility of the National Association of Counties. About a year ago or so, I was invited to participate in a cohort of various cities across the country. And it was put on by Patrick Spence and his team, where we would look at county-owned properties that we could build affordable housing on. And we came up with a presentation to Department of Land Management. Um we haven't quite done that yet, but uh here is Patrick Spence in order to lay out what we did during our cohort and what we can continue to do. It's almost like he gave us a recipe to a really, really, really good dish. And here he is. Uh back to you. Um Co-Chair Tupola. Thank you, Mr. Spence. Please proceed. Thank you very much. Um aloha, good afternoon. It's an honor to be here. Um my name is Patrick Spence. I work for the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C. If you don't know who that what that is, we represent all 3,069 county governments across the United States, um, including, of course, Honolulu. Um, and I specifically have our portfolio focused on housing and economic development. Uh next week, we're hosting our conference, and I hope to host some of you uh over in Maui. So I was delighted to be able to make this in in person. Um happy to be here.
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