Makiki Banyan: 90 New Affordable Homes Open in Honolulu | Bill 7
Makiki Banyan at 1568 Pensacola Street brings 90 new affordable housing units to urban Honolulu. Built in 13 months through Bill 7. See how it came together.
Last week we cut the ribbon on Makiki Banyan, a new 90-unit affordable housing community at 1568 Pensacola Street in the heart of urban Honolulu. It's a moment our team has been working toward for over a year — and frankly, one that took years of conversations, planning, and trust-building before that.
For those who've been following the Bill 7 affordable housing program, Makiki Banyan represents what's possible when local landowners, developers, contractors, and the City and County of Honolulu work together. For those new to this conversation, it's a real, completed example of what Bill 7 was designed to do: get badly needed housing built, fast, on land that was already sitting in the urban core.
If you live in Honolulu, you already know the housing problem. If you own land in town, you might be sitting on part of the solution without realizing it yet. This post is for both of you.
Oceans Real Estate develops, brokers, and manages residential and mixed-use properties across Oʻahu. We specialize in affordable housing development through Honolulu's Bill 7 program. Learn more about Bill 7.
What is Makiki Banyan?
Makiki Banyan is a six-story, concrete-construction residential building offering 90 units of workforce-priced housing on a previously underutilized parcel on Pensacola Street. It sits in walking distance of schools, parks, grocery stores, public transit, and downtown — the kind of central location that working families in Honolulu rarely get access to at attainable rents. The building was designed and built specifically to serve households earning at or below the area median income, with rents set under the requirements of City Ordinance 19-8 — better known as Bill 7.The Bill 7 Program, in Plain Language
Bill 7 was signed into law in 2019 and extended through May 2031. The basic idea is simple. The City of Honolulu wanted more affordable housing built quickly, so it offered landowners and developers a deal: build affordable rental housing in eligible urban zones, and the City will waive or reduce significant regulatory hurdles — height limits, parking requirements, density caps, and other zoning constraints that normally slow projects to a crawl. In return, the units have to be rented at affordable levels for at least 15 years. The result, when it works, is faster construction timelines, more units per parcel, and housing that actually pencils out financially for landowners and developers without requiring massive subsidies. Makiki Banyan is one of the first projects in town to take this program from concept to completed building at meaningful scale.90 Units in 13 Months
That timeline is worth pausing on. Most multifamily projects of this size in Honolulu take three to five years from groundbreaking to occupancy — sometimes longer. Makiki Banyan went from breaking ground to ribbon-cutting in about 13 months. That speed wasn't an accident. It was the product of:- A clear regulatory pathway through Bill 7, which removed many of the variances and entitlements that normally consume 12 to 24 months of pre-construction work.
- A development team that had done this before — partners Paul Lam and Geena Thielen, contractors who showed up every day, and a project management approach focused on keeping decisions moving rather than letting them sit.
- Concrete construction, which adds upfront cost but compresses build time, eliminates wood-framing schedule risk, and produces a building that will stand for generations with minimal maintenance.
- A site that was ready to build — well-located, properly zoned under Bill 7, with utilities accessible and no environmental surprises.
Why This Matters for Honolulu
Hawaiʻi has the highest housing costs and among the lowest homeownership rates in the United States. Working families — teachers, nurses, first responders, hospitality workers, the people who actually keep this island running — are increasingly priced out of the neighborhoods they grew up in. Many have already left for the mainland. You can't fix that with one building. But you can't fix it without buildings like this one, either. Ninety households now have a place to live in town, close to work, close to schools, at rents they can actually afford. Multiply that across the dozens of Bill 7 projects in the pipeline across Oʻahu, and you start to see real movement on a problem that has felt stuck for a long time.The most meaningful moment of the grand opening wasn't a speech. It was an incoming resident telling us, simply, that her kids would have their own rooms for the first time. That's the work.
What's Next for Oceans Real Estate
Makiki Banyan is the first of several projects in our pipeline. We're working on additional Bill 7 sites across Oʻahu — some in the design phase, some lining up financing, some still in conversation with the landowners. The model works. The team is in place. The need is undeniable. We're builders, but we're also neighbors. Honolulu is where we live, where our families live, and where we want the next generation to be able to afford to live too. Every project we take on is judged against that.🤝 Own Land in Urban Honolulu? Let's Talk.
If you own land in town and want to explore whether your parcel might be a fit for a Bill 7 development — or if you're simply curious about how these projects work — reach out. There's no obligation in a conversation.
Get in Touch
- 🏝️ Visit: Makiki Banyan, 1568 Pensacola Street, Honolulu
- 🎥 Watch: Grand opening video on YouTube
- 📩 Contact: Oceans Real Estate
- 📩 Want to move in? Visit makikibanyan.com today
Oceans Real Estate develops, brokers, and manages residential and mixed-use properties across Oʻahu. We specialize in affordable housing development through Honolulu's Bill 7 program. Learn more about Bill 7.
