The newest addition to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's on-campus housing offerings is officially welcoming tenants just before the start of the new academic year.
Hale Haukani is a two-building complex with 316 units and 558 beds, located on the mauka side of Dole Street, just before the Mānoa Stream.
The apartment layouts range from studios, for roughly $2,000 a month, to four-bedroom apartments. Prices for the four-bedroom layouts have not been publicized.
The addition of the new units means UH Mānoa can house over 4,000 students on or adjacent to campus. Hale Haukani prioritizes graduate students, but it’s open to everyone at the university, including undergraduate students and junior faculty.
Gov. Josh Green attended the official opening and blessing of the facility and stated that adding housing for people at the university will free up more off-campus spaces for other Hawaiʻi residents.
“We want to expand housing more than anything. We want Hawaiʻi, which is in a housing crisis, to be able to celebrate a success, but it has to start with young people, giving them something affordable, making sure that they can come and be a vibrant part of our future, and I don't think there's any more vibrant place than the university,” Green said.
The complex cost $170 million to build and took just under two years to complete. This addition marks the university’s second public-private partnership, or P3, following the Walter Dods, Jr. RISE Center.
UH President Wendy Hensel noted that P3 projects use minimal tax and tuition revenue and are vital in keeping costs low for tenants.
“This project and our RISE project are proof this university will find alternative methods to modernize our facilities at a minimal cost to the taxpayer, and will execute plans on time and on budget,” Hensel said. “Our goal is to have access points for students no matter what their financial situation is.”
The university invested $8 million into Hale Haukani and will continue to invest $2 million annually.
The Collegiate Housing Foundation privately owns the project and will use the revenue from rent payments to repay the bonds it used to fund construction.
Speakers at the blessing highlighted the addition of the UH Mānoa Children Center, which was moved from Castle Memorial Hall. The center is now located within Hale Haukani and can accommodate 130 children. The goal is to partner with the College of Education to provide pre-k educators with hands-on opportunities to learn and teach in the field.
