Goodbye Ansaldo, Hello Hitachi
The recent purchase of Italian train car-maker Ansaldo by Hitachi Group has Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Chairman Don Horner excited about the future of the city’s $6.6 billion rail...
View ArticleLiving Hawaii: It’s The Land That Really Drives Up Honolulu’s Home Prices
For aspiring homeowners, housing prices on Oahu just seem to keep rising up, up and away. The question is why. Or, more precisely: What’s the driving force behind high prices that lead many homeowners...
View ArticleCaldwell: Feds Withholding Honolulu Rail Funds Until Council Acts
The Federal Transit Administration is withholding its next allotment of $250 million in grant money for the Honolulu rail project until the City Council approves a five-year extension of the general...
View ArticleCaldwell: Honolulu Would Be ‘Lolo’ To Imperil Its Federal Funds for Rail
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell is ramping up the pressure on the Honolulu City Council, and particularly Chairman Ernie Martin, to pass a five-year extension of a 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge...
View ArticleLiving Hawaii: Rooftop Solar Boosts Home Values
What is rooftop solar power worth to homeowners in Honolulu? In recent years, a cocktail of high electricity bills, generous government incentives and increasingly cheap photovoltaic panels have made...
View ArticleHART Finds Savings With Latest Honolulu Rail Bids
Honolulu received more welcome news Tuesday when transit officials opened bids to build three rail stations along the city’s $6.6 billion project corridor from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. Three...
View ArticleHonolulu Rail Tax Extension Gets Preliminary OK
The Honolulu City Council Budget Committee passed a measure Wednesday to extend for five years a 0.5 percent surcharge on the general excise tax to pay for the escalating costs of the $6.6 billion rail...
View ArticleSection 8 Program Gets High Rating
Honolulu’s Section 8 program got a “High Performer” rating from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds the rental subsidy program that’s officially known as the Housing...
View ArticleWilling To Foot The Bill To Help Hawaii’s Homeless Families
At first glance, the site isn’t anything to write home about. It’s a barren 13-acre parcel just off Nimitz Highway, right across the stream from Keehi Lagoon Park. It has no electricity, water or...
View ArticleNo Sweep Of The Harbor Planned, Says State Homeless Coordinator
Despite widely circulated rumors Thursday of an impending sweep of Hawaii’s largest homeless encampment, state Homeless Coordinator Scott Morishige said he is not aware of any plans for a sweep of The...
View ArticleCity Agrees Not to Throw Out ‘Personal Property’ During Homeless Sweeps
The City and County of Honolulu has reached a court-sanctioned agreement that temporarily prevents it from immediately disposing of any personal items during the enforcement of the stored property and...
View ArticleSand Island Facility Opens Its Doors To The Homeless
After more than a year of planning and construction, the City and County of Honolulu opened a new transitional housing facility on Sand Island, welcoming the first six residents Thursday. The facility,...
View ArticleUnder The Microscope: Honolulu Included In Federal Rail Audit
If history repeats itself it will be several more months before the verdict is in on whether the Federal Transit Administration is effectively overseeing major public transportation infrastructure...
View ArticleNew Laws Encourage Solar Panels, Allow Waikiki Rezoning
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed into law Monday measures that range from rezoning land in Waikiki to ensuring that homeowners who are renovating their homes don’t miss out on property tax...
View ArticleHonolulu Rail Budget In Limbo Until City Council Acts
Setting a budget can be hard when you don’t know when your next check will arrive. But that’s exactly what the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Board of Directors had to do Tuesday, when its...
View ArticleHow Crappy Sewers Make It Hard To Build Housing In Honolulu
When developer Serge Krivatsy thinks about where to build his next housing project in Honolulu, he doesn’t look to Moiliili. That’s not a knock on the urban neighborhood, which is right by the...
View ArticleAre Honolulu Planning Officials Too Cozy With This Developer?
One month after Ewa homeowners filed a lawsuit against Haseko Development for deciding to build a lagoon instead of a marina, Haseko representatives met with officials from the city Department of...
View ArticleState Homeless Coordinator: No Sweep Planned For The Harbor
Your voices will be heard. That was the message that State Homeless Coordinator Scott Morishige stressed at the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board meeting on Tuesday, while also trying to reassure people...
View ArticleNew Survey Takes Census Data Down To The Neighborhood Level
Where in Hawaii can one find the highest median household income? Waialae Iki on Oahu, where the average is $163,000. The highest percentage of people below the poverty rate in the whole state?...
View ArticleWhen Half A Train Is Better Than None
As costs increase, the construction schedule slips and the bank accounts dwindle, Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation officials still maintain that running half a railroad is better than...
View Article