Transit-Oriented Development Funding and Financing Strategy for the State of Hawaiʻi
State of Hawaii
HR&A developed a comprehensive funding and financing strategy for infrastructure to enable transit-oriented development (TOD) across Hawaiʻi with the goal of helping address the state’s critical housing crisis. Working with the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, we identified viable value capture tools, calculated infrastructure costs across four pilot areas, and created policy recommendations to make transit-oriented development more financially feasible statewide. Our work also supported a successful $6.6 million Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO) grant application.
HR&A led a multi-disciplinary team to tackle Hawaiʻi’s pressing TOD infrastructure funding challenges. With the state facing a shortage of over 50,000 homes by 2025, our work focused on enabling development through strategic infrastructure financing. We conducted detailed analyses of four pilot areas across Hawaiʻi’s counties, evaluating the regulatory viability of various value capture mechanisms including Tax Increment Financing and special taxes. Our team quantified potential revenue streams for each option and developed implementation recommendations for those offering the greatest financial impact.
Our engagement extended beyond technical analysis to include robust coordination with county planning and finance departments, the State’s TOD Council, and a dedicated Project Advisory Group. To support implementation of our recommendations, we created accessible communication materials explaining how public infrastructure investment could help address the housing crisis. We also assessed value capture financing options for the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District, a significant public-private partnership to deliver mixed-use development anchored by a new stadium. Our recommendations catalyzed meaningful policy discussions at the State level around Tax Increment Financing reform and directly contributed to Hawaiʻi securing substantial federal housing funding, demonstrating HR&A’s ability to translate complex financial analysis into tangible policy and funding outcomes that advance community goals.
