Pacific Development Group’s Naulu Apartments arrived in the community of Aiea, Hawaii, as the island of Oahu continues to face a severe shortage of quality, long-term rental housing that is affordable to working families and seniors.
Regional officials and developers have long pointed to rising costs that are pushing residents increasingly far from jobs, schools and essential services. Developers said Naulu responds with 300 units that are affordable by regional standards, designed to serve households earning 30% to 60% of the area’s median income. Many of those residents have long been priced out of other Hawaii neighborhoods.
The project was developed near regional transit and is located in one of Hawaii’s most supply-constrained areas for multifamily development. For its potential to provide affordable workplace housing to residents long in need, Naulu Apartments was chosen by a panel of area judges to receive a 2026 CoStar Impact Award for multifamily development of the year for Hawaii.
About the project: Naulu was completed in 2025 at 99-009 Kalaloa St. in the community of Aiea on the island of Oahu. It includes 300 apartments in a 25-story tower, in the Halawa transit-oriented development corridor near Pearl Harbor and the future Aloha Stadium redevelopment.
What the judges said: The project meets a “dire need for multifamily statewide,” said Grant Howe, managing member of Commercial Properties of Maui. Howe said commendation is due to “any group that can accomplish” such development in the face of numerous permitting and other regulatory hurdles.
“It delivers deeply affordable, transit-oriented housing at meaningful scale, preserving dignity and long-term stability for Hawaii’s working families and kūpuna (cherished elders) in one of the nation’s most challenging housing markets,” said Yifan Chen, assistant professor of finance and real estate at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.
They made it happen: Joe Michael, president, Pacific Development Group; Jeff Lee, principal architect, AHL; Corey Miyasato, construction manager, Nordic PCL.