We should be like SIngapore. After all, our illustrious, wise leaders visit there frequently to model our housing like theirs https://www.senatorchang.com/alohahomes
...why not model spitting laws too

https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/woman-arrested-after-allegedly-assaulting-two-hpd-officers-in-aiea/article_7e339fa7-ac84-4161-b1e5-bcdbb02c64d1.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/things-that-are-illegal-in-singapore-2015-7?op=1

Caning in Singapore...U.S.should be doing that to the criminal protesters!!! Not the version the stupid American received---the real deal---6ft. long x 3in rotan soaked in salt water with a 6ft3in 250lb. Singapore police giving everything in his Cricket style wind up and delivery!!!  More than 3 strokes and you are given days to recover for the next 3!!!! People I talked to said they will NEVER Ever do anything to be canned again!!!

Seoul, S. Korea has similar housing projects. 

The thinking about adopting other countries' successful projects like this is the fact that the standards of construction need to be set higher than the bare minimum with inspectors who aren't corrupt -- willing and able to hold builders to the standards.

Too many government projects result in subpar materials and construction processes which cause highway spans to collapse and so forth.  Every dollar the contract winner can save is another dollar in their pocket.

Rather than going with a bidding process, there a variety of contracts to use, such as cost + fixed fee or fixed price + incentives.  The cost of the actual project could be a fixed amount so cost overruns are eaten by the builder, or there can be incentives for the builder to be paid more for coming in on time or passing inspections quickly meaning the work is up to specs without a lot of reworking sections.

Anyway, corruption in poor ethics need to be weeded out when awarding contracts.    That would be a major boost for big projects like housing units.

I wonder if they ever looked into Japanese style small houses. Kind of like small townhouses but separate buildings. Usually very little yard to speak of and only one parking space but things are very efficient. I think they would have to revise some building regulations to do it but Japan gets quite a bit of density/use of land out of this style of home without everything needing to be high rises.

I just don't trust the government to be the one controlling all of it, make things easier to accomplish, set some basic standards for a development and let the market do the rest.

I wonder if they ever looked into Japanese style small houses. Kind of like small townhouses but separate buildings. Usually very little yard to speak of and only one parking space but things are very efficient. I think they would have to revise some building regulations to do it but Japan gets quite a bit of density/use of land out of this style of home without everything needing to be high rises.

I just don't trust the government to be the one controlling all of it, make things easier to accomplish, set some basic standards for a development and let the market do the rest.

Hawaii needs more homes and condos are the way to go. Take advantage of elevation due to limited land.  But our law makers rather focus on other less important issues.

Hawaii needs more homes and condos are the way to go. Take advantage of elevation due to limited land.  But our law makers rather focus on other less important issues.

Not sure if it's been settled, but there were lots of condo associations suing the state after the mandatory lease-hold- to -fee-simple fiasco.  The condos spent tens of thousands trying to convert to fee simple under Mayor Jeremy Harris.  When he left, Mayor Mufi Hannemann made changes that basically returned the power to the landowners.  The condos sued over all the money they spent converting property holdings and then back again.  in order to receive a share of any settlement, the owners who were there during the conversion had be be the owner of record after the settlement.  One of my coworkers had to move away after retiring, so he missed out on any reimbursement.  The conversions were paid out of annual assessments, which were higher to cover the legal fees.

Anyway, it shows how government needs to keep their fingers out of housing markets.

Not sure if it's been settled, but there were lots of condo associations suing the state after the mandatory lease-hold- to -fee-simple fiasco.  The condos spent tens of thousands trying to convert to fee simple under Mayor Jeremy Harris.  When he left, Mayor Mufi Hannemann made changes that basically returned the power to the landowners.  The condos sued over all the money they spent converting property holdings and then back again.  in order to receive a share of any settlement, the owners who were there during the conversion had be be the owner of record after the settlement.  One of my coworkers had to move away after retiring, so he missed out on any reimbursement.  The conversions were paid out of annual assessments, which were higher to cover the legal fees.

Anyway, it shows how government needs to keep their fingers out of housing markets.

Imagine all the money we're spending on the rail and housing should have taken priority.  It think the only other thing taking priority over housing is the jail. What good is having a home if criminals can keep breaking the law with little punishment.  Built another prison and pay guards way more as to attract more guards.  This way we can keep repeat offenders behind bars, no early releases, etc...  But this is a separate issue I guess, so I 'll end it here.

Just for comparision, I've been keeping tabs on the Vegas housing market which increased by at least 30% since 202o and all the CA people moving.

A 500sqft 1/1/1 condo unit here in Kakaako can be rented for $2500/mo.This is a newer built condo, so it's not like 20 years or older.

In Henderson (Vegas) a 2/2/2 1100sq foot apartment that has walk in closets in each bedroom and built with in the past 5 years goes for $1600.  So double the square footage and much less. 

Imagine if all the CA people didn't move in 2020, this same unit would prob go for $1200/mo.

So with more condo units in HI available, the cost should go down.  The unfortunate part is most developers want to build luxuary condo's instead of regular ones.  So the state would have to get involved to help convince developers to build.  I'm not talking "affordable units" either.  Cause those numbers are all jacked up anyways. The most recent project Kuilei Place has about 25% vacancy still cause the states income requirements suck.  Compare this to Ke Kilohana back in 2016 that sold out all their affordable units in 1 week.  I can dive deeper into this if anyone else wants to know more info.