Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE) organized a housing summit for developers, politicians, ministers, retirees, young people and people of all economic backgrounds to discuss what could be done about Hawaii's affordable housing crisis. The basic assertion by FACE is that the median price for condominiums and single family homes have gotten too high for an average family to afford. Even rental prices have soared in recent years, making things increasingly challenging for the middle class and lower class.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell, stated that developers need to help build housing for people earning up to 80 percent of the Area Median Income, which in Honolulu is $53,700 for a single person, rather than work force housing (120 to 140 percent of the median income) and luxury properties. Caldwell stated, "we've become a place where people who have a lot of money can come and live here, and the people that we love, our children, our neighbors, our families, our friends are moving away. That breaks my heart. We're losing our soul when that happens."
Caldwell added, "I don't blame the developer. They are building to a market where they can make money. We need to figure out how we can work with those developers. Just passing a law doesn't work. Maui had very aggressive standards and regulations, and the developers just didn't build." Caldwell called for creating additional incentives for developers in the form of subsidies and tax credits.
