1. The State of Hawaii Judiciary controlled a 1.5 acre property in the Ala Mona area of Honolulu that housed a juvenile detention facility. The buildings were deteriorating and the Judiciary was planning a new facility to provide juvenile counseling and services. Legislature funding had been received for site planning, but funds for construction would, at best, be delayed due to competing budget priorities.

2. Recognizing the obstacles, SSFM took the initiative to consider alternative scenarios that would increase the likelihood of securing construction financing.

3. The property location is in one of the City’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) zones that allows greater density at each proposed Honolulu Area Rapid Transit (HART) rail station. We recognized a perfect opportunity for a collaboration between the Judiciary and Housing.

4. A series of meetings with the agencies resulted in an agreement to explore conceptual design of a combined mixed use facility that includes a juvenile counseling facility and an affordable rental housing project.

5. We assembled a design team comprised of the Civil and Structural Engineering Departments of SSFM to develop the conceptual design of the multi-purpose building and shared parking structure.

6. SSFM-Planning prepared the requisite Environmental Assessment for the project which is used to secure Hawaii State Legislature funding, and by HHFDC in their solicitation for a developer of the new multi-purpose facility.

7. 902 Alder Street will satisfy the needs of the Judiciary while providing much needed affordable housing. SSFM’s strategic approach makes possible a project that would have otherwise languished and where the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts.