Tenants at Lahaina Front Street Apartments celebrate federal court win to keep rent affordable until 2051

Tenants of the Lahaina Front Street Apartments low-income housing project welcomed a federal court decision this week that ensures that the project will stay affordable until 2051.

The 40-page decision by Hawaiʻi federal District Court Judge Jill Otake rejected an attempt by the project developer, Front Street Affordable Housing Partners, to end the restrictions set in place to prevent sharp increases in rents or sale of the project unencumbered by the rent restrictions.

The Front Street project was built in 2001 to provide affordable rental housing to low income residents of Maui. Front Street is one of the few affordable housing complexes left on Maui. Currently, the maximum income for four is about $55,000 to rent an apartment at Front Street. In return for $15 million in state funded tax credits, the developer is contracted to keep the apartments affordable for 51 years.

However, after just 15 years, the developer asked the state’s financing agency, the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance & Development Corporation, for permission to end the restrictions.