Mililani Frequently Asked Questions
Last Updated: March 2025
1. Q:
Who is the Hawai‘i School Facilities Authority (HISFA)?
A:
HISFA is a state entity separate from HIDOE established in 2020 that is responsible for building workforce housing and other school facilities such as preschools and new schools.
2. Q:
Is this a P3 (public-private partnership) project?
A:
Yes. It is a P3 project and the first state teacher housing project using this approach.
3. Q:
Why did HISFA issue an RFP?
A:
Following Act 172, HISFA issued an RFP to find a qualified partner to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the teacher housing project at Mililani High School. HISFA issued the RFP with the following criteria for the chosen offeror:
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“will develop, construct, and operate a new rental housing project to be provided at below-market rents to eligible teachers and education staff”
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“shall give first priority for occupancy to qualified teachers and persons working in the educational field and or settings, including Department of Education (“DOE”) employees.”
Offerers were “expected to submit a realistic description of how they intend to successfully execute this development effort.”
4. Q:
Who is the awardee of the RFP?
A:
Pacific Housing Assistance Corporation, a Hawai‘i non-profit corporation with over 40 years of affordable housing experience, submitted the winning proposal.
5. Q:
Why is this project happening and why is it happening at Mililani High School?
A:
Act 172 directs HISFA to build affordable teacher housing as a recruitment and retention strategy to address the teacher shortage. It also gives the HISFA the power to partner with public and private development agencies to develop housing projects on school lands. The legislation identified Mililani High School as a site for the project.
6. Q:
Will the housing be for Mililani High School teachers?
A:
The project targets teachers across the State, including Mililani High School teachers.
7. Q:
What household income was the RFP targeting?
A:
The RFP required offerors to develop, construct and operate a new rental housing project to be provided at below-market rents to eligible teachers and education staff. The RFP defined “Project” as, “A workforce rental housing project consisting of rental units restricted to individuals or families earning less than one hundred twenty percent (120%) of the area median income.” According to the state’s definition of affordable housing, rent will be no more than 30% of a teacher’s salary.
8. Q:
Is Pacific Housing’s proposal the final plan?
A:
No, Pacific Housing’s proposal is its conceptual plan to meet the requirements of the RFP. Their proposed site, design, housing layouts, and amenities are guided by market research on current, future, and mainland teachers’ needs. Pacific Housing contracted a local research firm to conduct interviews and focus groups with teachers, to create a housing community that would support teacher residents and help the state retain and recruit teachers.
Where is the final project site located on campus?
9. Q:
A:
The location is on Mililani High School's lower campus.
10. Q:
Were there two project sites?
A:
The original project site was proposed for the upper campus of Mililani High School. This location raised some apprehension within the community for various reasons.  Between September 2024 and early February 2025 HISFA gathered stakeholder feedback on the location through 12 community meetings and neighborhood board meetings, as well as written comments .
11. Q:
Was a traffic study required for the proposal to ensure feasibility and number of units possible?
A:
A traffic study was not required in the RFP. Typically, an RFP does not require the offeror to prepare or include a traffic study in their RFP response. A traffic study will be conducted as part of the Environment Assessment (EA) process when the Project site is determined and plans are further developed.
12. Q:
When will the community be engaged for feedback?
A:
In this new type of project, the partner is chosen very early in the process so they can be involved and thus intimately familiar with the details of many of the expected due diligence phases, including the EA, traffic impact study, and particularly community engagement. In this sense, the community and all stakeholders can engage much earlier in the process than a typical government project. Pacific Housing began community engagement efforts with teachers through its market research during the RFP process. In October 2024, HISFA presented project information at the Mililani-Waipio and Mililani Mauka Neighborhood Board meetings. HISFA and Pacific Housing initiated a stakeholder engagement process in November 2024, including meetings with the school’s principal and some teachers and students, as well as other community meetings. Future meetings and presentations will be scheduled as the plan progresses.
13. Q:
Is there a budget established for this project? What is the estimated timeline?
A:
The timeline and budget are of course closely linked and dependent on a cascading set of decisions made as the project proceeds. For example, an EA might compel some design changes, but an EA cannot begin before a final site is selected. Similarly with a traffic study, site selection impacts the amount of time and effort to lay infrastructure. Therefore, a timeline is yet to be established.
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​As a P3 (Public-Private Partnership) the RFP puts the responsibility of financing and budgeting mostly on Pacific Housing, minimizing the need for State monies. Pacific Housing included a budget and timeline for their proposed plan. As the details of the project have still not been finalized, a budget and timeline have likewise not been finalized.
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14. Q:
If there are a lot of qualified teachers, what happens if there are more teachers than units?
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A:
With Hawai‘i’s high cost of housing, we anticipate demand for affordable housing among qualified teachers to exceed the available units. HISFA and Pacific Housing will develop a fair, equitable process to accommodate as many teachers as possible. The property manager hired by Pacific Housing will manage the applicant pool based on the agreed criteria. If there are more applicants than units available, a lottery will be conducted to place eligible applicants. The remaining applicants will be placed on a wait list that will be retained by the property manager to fill vacant units.
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It is important to note that Mililani High School is the first teacher workforce housing project in the state. HISFA is working on plans for future teacher workforce housing locations.