Steven Bader, executive director of the East Hawai ' i Coalition for the Homeless said he hopes to renovate the building off Kino ' ole Street within months of taking control of it. One wing may be reopened as a commercial office complex. Bader is from Hilo and spent 20 years as a college administrator in Washington state. The coalition is now independent of the church and operates housing for up to 80 individuals in 14 units that have been acquired or rented. Those with children get first priority.
Single women are next and single men last.
Bader is looking for additional money and donations. The Hilo Hotel is on the site of King David Kalakaua's Hilo home in the 19th century. Visiting lawmakers, lobbyists and attorneys called it home until the late 1960s. The hotel was acquired in 1908 by legendary Hawai ' i hotelier George Lycurgus. Co. The hotel was only owned briefly by Brewer.