Housing in Hawai‘i has perennially been in high demand. The need for affordable housing, in particular, is reaching dire levels.
On Maui, planning began more than eight years ago to develop the Kaulana Mahina apartment community in Wailuku. The project, a collaboration between the Maui County Council, the Maui mayor’s office and the Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Corp., consists of 324 residential units across nine three-story buildings on a 14.4-acre site.
Per Maui County Code, 60 percent of Kaulana Mahina’s units are set aside as workforce housing, which is reserved for households earning between 50 to 140 percent of the area median income.
“Kaulana Mahina is the first workforce housing project in Maui to break ground in over 20 years and is 100 percent privately funded,” says Anthony Musielak, Moss & Associates project executive for Kaulana Mahina. A hui of investors, including developer BIT Wailuku LLC and Legacy Partners, a privately held real estate firm, bankrolled the development.
Moss & Associates was the general contractor on the project, which came in at over $100 million and broke ground in August 2022.
PROJECT CHALLENGES
Despite Moss’ assembled lineup of esteemed subcontractors, challenges still arose to present obstacles for the team.
“This project started just as we were coming out of COVID,” explains Dan Gilbertson, senior project manager for Dorvin D. Leis Co. Inc. (DDL), which handled all project plumbing, air conditioning, sheet metal, gutters and fire sprinklers. Gilbertson says there were also “added challenges of resource and material shortages, supply chain issues, escalation in cost and general inflation” they needed to contend with.
Alissa Bautista, project manager at Rosendin, subcontractor on the project, says challenges presented by “limited manpower available on-island, long lead procurements and weather delays … impacted project critical path milestones.”
Nevertheless, the project remained on track.
Electrical subcontractor Rosendin partnered with Moss to provide “building electrical (power and lighting), EV chargers installation, fire alarm and CCTV/IDS systems,” Bautista says, as well as telecommunication rough-ins of conduit pathways.
BRIDGING THE GAP
From Musielak’s perspective, one of the project’s biggest challenges also happened to be the project’s most unique design feature: a large CON/SPAN structure running underneath the project.
CON/SPAN is a precast, modular bridge system that provides cost savings and other benefits to a project. The CON/SPAN for Kaulana Mahina is a 600-linear-foot drainage structure, standing over 12 feet high, buried underground.
“This drainage system resolves the large amounts of water that drain from the West Maui Mountains during large rain events,” explains Musielak. “Previous designs left this existing drainage channel open, requiring the addition of much larger retaining walls to the project site.
“The buried CON/SPAN structure was much more cost-effective and allowed the project to stay within budget.”
The system needed to be installed before foundations could be started for two of Kaulana Mahina’s buildings. Further complicating this aspect of the project was that its timing coincided with Maui’s rainy season, presenting difficulties when pouring the mat slab that sits beneath the CON/SPAN.
The project’s civil contractor, T.J. Gomes Trucking Co. Inc., worked alongside Moss “to come up with unique/creative dewatering techniques and alternate temporary drainage canals in order to get this scope of work installed,” Musielak says.
THE END RESULT
When Kaulana Mahina broke ground in 2022, executives estimated units would start being delivered in the latter half of 2023. Moss successfully reached that goal, with move-ins beginning in December and overall completion taking place on June 14.
Gilbertson says he’s pleased with the final outcome.
“We enjoyed working with [the] owner’s rep and general contractor. They were very proactive in addressing issues as they arose,” says Gilbertson. “DDL is proud to be part of the construction team that delivered this project … and we look forward to building more affordable units.”
“This project went well for Rosendin,” adds Bautista. “We’re looking to plant deeper roots in the Maui construction market and [are] planning to continue pursuing affordable housing projects that will positively impact our community.”
This project’s completion is crucial following the Maui wildfires. While Kaulana Mahina’s 324 units won’t completely solve Maui’s housing crisis, it’s one of several projects aiming to help alleviate some of the pressure.
“The project was a major success and should serve as a model for future privately funded affordable housing projects,” Musielak says.
Kaulana Mahina
Subcontractor List
(In alphabetical order)
Affiliated Construction LLC (Masonry)
Alii Glass & Metal Inc. (Storefronts)
Beachside Roofing LLC (Roofing, flashing)
Century Floor Coverings Inc. (Flooring)
Creative Signs & Graphics Ltd. (Signage)
Dorvin D. Leis Co. Inc. (HVAC, plumbing, fire protection)
East & West Aluminum Craft Hawaii Ltd. (Decorative railings)
ExerPlay Inc. (Landscaping, playground equipment)
Ferguson Enterprises LLC (Appliances)
Floor Technologies of Hawaii Inc. (Concrete flooring)
Group Builders Inc. (Finished carpentry, appliance install, siding and window install)
Pacific AquaScapes (Pool)
Protech Roofing LLC (Waterproofing, insulation)
Reef Development of Hawaii Inc. (Concrete rebar)
Rosendin Electric Inc. (All building electrical)
Solid Surface Works LLC (Quartz countertops)
SWI Finishing-HI Inc. (Carpentry)
T.J. Gomes Trucking Co. Inc. (Sitework)
WE Painting Inc. (All painting and coating)
Window World Inc. (Blinds)
