Citing issues of deteriorating and aging conditions of the buildings, ‘Iolani School issued a six-month notice to vacate their units to residents of the low-rise apartment complex Lā‘au Gardens Apartments bordering Date Street. The notice, which was delivered last week, signals the beginning of a long-anticipated transition for a property ‘Iolani has owned since June 2009, with the intent of eventually using the land for future campus expansion.
In an Imua article published in 2012 about the Date-Lā‘au property, titled “Land purchase yields protests,” writer Ayumi T. ’12 said, “These people live in the Date-Lā‘au complexes because most of them cannot afford to live elsewhere.” Recognizing the weight of this reality, ‘Iolani has taken steps to make the moving-out process less abrupt. ‘Iolani has not accepted new tenants once units became vacant, and has not raised rent since the end of the lease agreements in 2012. Because of this, around 60% of the units are already unoccupied.
Reflecting ‘Iolani’s sensitivity to the residents’ circumstances, Interim Head of School Mrs. Melanie Pfingsten said, “Rents in the surrounding area have gone up significantly since 2012, but we have not raised the rent.” She continued,“We’ve been communicating that… at some point that land will be used for the school.” In past years, as mentioned in a Hawaii News Article published in February 2012, ‘Iolani School hosted coffee hours to create greater transparency between ‘Iolani and renters.
Furthermore, to ease the transition, each tenant household will receive a $4,000 relocation stipend and assistance from two on-site relocation specialists to navigate new housing options. ‘Iolani also waived the usual requirement to clean out apartments upon move-out, exceeding the standard in most renter-landlord agreements. Additionally, though the State of Hawai‘i requires landlords to give at least 45 days notice in the case of month-to-month leasing, ‘Iolani provided residents with a notice of 180 days. In addition, according to the Hawai‘i Residential Landlord-Tenant code, relocation assistance is generally not mandated by the state.
Despite this, Mrs. Pfingsten acknowledged the emotional and financial difficulty of such a transition, saying, “Are we going above and beyond? We absolutely are. Is it my expectation that all of a sudden they’re going to be like, ‘Yay?’ Absolutely not.” Empathizing with their situation, she said, “I’m imagining I just found out that I have to move…maybe I’ve got kids and maybe a husband and we have to ask ourselves ‘what are we going to do?’ The feelings of distress in my body outweigh any letter that tells me, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re [going to] get $4,000 and we’re [going to] help you relocate.’”
Mrs. Pfingsten explained that she and the Board of Governors frame property decisions through ‘Iolani’s broader mission: “Every decision we make about programs and students, but certainly every financial investment or every decision we make, we return and make sure that it’s aligned with the mission. Our mission is to provide educational opportunities for young people.” The school hopes to use the land to further accomplish this.
Mrs. Pfingsten also reiterated that the change has been under discussion for years. “[‘Iolani] bought the property in 2009, and since then the Board has been carefully planning…So it’s not like the Board woke up a month ago, and said, ‘Let’s do it.’” In an article published in 2012 by Hawaii News Now, ‘Iolani Director of Communications Ms. Cathy Lee Chong said, “We’ve tried to give people ample warning about what’s happening,” suggesting ‘Iolani has made efforts over time to communicate long-term intentions.
(Joshua O.)
Over the past few years, ‘Iolani has completed numerous campus developments, including the Residential Life building in late 2018, the K-1 Community in 2019 and the Arrilaga Student Center in January 2026. ‘Iolani’s goals on expanding the campus to Date Street is part of this trend, however there are currently no immediate plans in place. “There is a campus master planning process that happens with the [Board of Governors] and the Head of School… there are no plans yet, because they haven’t gone through that process,” Mrs. Pfingsten said. “The idea is that eventually the borders of the campus would extend to Date Street, as that was the idea when ‘Iolani purchased it.”
Moving forward, any campus master planning processes will commence after Dr. Melinda Bihn starts as the new Head of School in July. While no specific development timeline has been established, this transition in leadership marks the next phase in ‘Iolani’s vision to extend its campus borders toward Date Street.
