Dozens of affordable housing units are currently under construction at the historic Hocking Building in Honolulu’s Chinatown.
The three-story building sits on the corner of North King Street and Nuʻuanu Avenue and had been used as office space since the late 1960s until First Hawaiian Bank vacated the property in December.
The units constructed under the Hocking Building Affordable Housing Project will provide rental housing for households earning up to 30-50% of the area median income level.
The former commercial building is named after businessman Alfred Hocking. It was originally built in 1914 as a hotel.
“Mr. Hocking envisioned this building as a long-term stay hotel for traveling businessmen, and it later became a boarding house, and most recently this first floor housed the First Hawaiian Bank,” said David Oi, the housing finance manager for the state of Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation.
“What’s being developed here is truly taking the Hocking Building back to its roots as a residential hub," he said.
Oi, representing the state government, city and state lawmakers and leaders from groups involved in the project held a blessing on the first floor of the building Wednesday. Construction started recently.
The so-called “adaptive reuse” project will lead to 25 studios and one- and two-bedroom units.
The $31 million project is expected to be completed in late 2024. It uses Rental Housing revolving Funds and Federal and State Low Income Housing Tax Credits administered by the HHFDC and the Federal Historic Tax Credits.
The housing tax credits are syndicated through Hunt Capital Group.
It has also been awarded Affordable Housing Fund financing from the City and County of Honolulu. First Hawaiian Bank is providing private funding.
