Chinatown in transition

Just mentioning the name of Chinatown conjures diverse mental images. That’s what happens with places in transition, and Honolulu’s Chinatown district is clearly in transition.

Even with its stalwart defenders, the downtown community has struggled with crime and homelessness. Most recently, conflicts at City Hall have erupted over the demand for low-income housing and who’s first in line to rent an apartment.

Though its 130-year history stands as testament to the entrepreneurship of Hawaii’s immigrants, it’s been a while since Chinatown was viewed through the lens of opportunity. Along comes Ron McElroy, and that’s how he sees it now.

Sure, he said, there’s difficulty with parking, the buildings are fixer-uppers at best. But there is a budding cool factor he identified here, hints of a hipster future not unlike what inhabits places he’s set up in California as high-tech business incubators.

"People will deal with the difficult parking because the energy there is unlike any other," said McElroy, owner of Real Office Centers. The company is in the midst of renovating the company’s next location: an old two-story building at the corner of Nuuanu and Hotel, home to various bars.

A "couple million" in rehab work is underway at the location, known simply as "2 North Hotel Street." Once that’s done — McElroy projects completion by August or September — the place will move upscale several notches, with retail and restaurants below, office space for tech startups above. Techie companies love quirky places, he said.

"It would be a heck of a lot less expensive to go to Kakaako," McElroy said, "but Chinatown is truly a creative market.

"Look at our place in Santa Monica," he added, pointing to online descriptions (realofficecenters.com).

"Google was there before us, and Oracle before them. A prime example to me is a market like Venice Beach.

"Chinatown is a smaller version of that gritty curb appeal."

A lot of people in this historic neighborhood fervently hope he’s right. Amid reports of struggling businesses in some areas, of thriving bright spots in others, neighbors, elected officials and business leaders debate how to tip the balance in the right direction.

Andrew Friedlander, principal broker at Colliers International, has made the reclamation of Chinatown one of his career passions. He’s one of a group who founded the arts district, which in recent years has welcomed boutiques and restaurants to the neighborhood more than galleries.

"The restaurants here are real restaurants," he said, waving at some of the eateries on Bethel Street, conducting what became an impromptu walking tour. "They’re not just hang-out bars."

Friedlander and business owners with whom he works — such as restaurateur Dave Stewart, best known for Brasserie Du Vin on Bethel — share a goal for Chinatown. They want to create a critical mass of trendy attractions that can transform what remains seedy about Chinatown into what people might call simply "edgy."

Not everyone brims with optimism. Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, president of the Chinatown Business and Community Association, said her members have cited a number of worries. Parking is scarce and expensive, she said, so produce shoppers head to the farmers markets further east in the downtown area. Police haven’t cracked down on property and drug crime sufficiently, she added, and even a development Friedlander hailed as a boon to nighttime activity — the opening of Walmart on Fort Street Mall — may siphon off more business from mom-and-pop markets.

"It’s been in decline for the last three four years," Shubert-Kwock said, sounding dejected, "mainly because of the homeless."

The issue of homelessness — and families teetering on the brink of it — is a central concern of many who live and work in Chinatown. In particular, the Honolulu City Council has battled over the fate of the city-owned affordable rental stock.

Three of the 12 projects most at issue are three subsidized complexes in Chinatown, which currently rent largely to the lowest end of the income scale.

From one side of the debate, the Rev. Bob Nakata has argued vigorously against any plan that reduces the number of units rented to those earning no more than 60 percent of area median income (AMI), or $58,000 to $77,000 annual income for a family of four. City officials said that more than two-thirds of the units are rented to this group.

From the opposite side, Shubert-Kwock and others have said the neighborhood could become a "ghetto" that can’t support local businesses unless more people with higher incomes move in.

One is downtown resident Lynne Matusow, active with the neighborhood board, who said she is sympathetic to both arguments.

"He (Nakata) wants to find housing for these people," she said. "I understand that, but we need to keep the community vibrant at the same time.

"My favorite Chinese bakery shut down," Matusow added glumly. "We’re getting some new restaurants and I hope they survive,but we need a mix. …

"The difference between surviving and not, may be one or two tables a night."

Taking up that charge, the district representative, City Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, has proposed a resolution that would let lower-income tenants stay, but ensure that future vacancies would be filled by those earning a higher income.

A compromise draft of the measure, Resolution 14-121, has emerged, as well as another contrary view: Perhaps the city shouldn’t sell its properties at all (see story, Page E4).

The entire socioeconomic mix could shift — at least the population is expected to grow — with another evolution that will unfold over the next five years. The rail transit line will pass on the makai boundary of Chinatown, and it’s expected that the city will take the opportunity to incentivize development of residential towers at the nearby stop.

The question is: Will Chinatown make it between now and then?

Friedlander, Stewart and gallery owner Sandy Pohl are trying to answer that question in the affirmative. They were in the vanguard of those who started trying to reclaim the commercial value of the district, a process that Friedlander said began more than 15 years ago.

"It was a war zone around here," he said flatly. "It was prostitutes and drugs.

"We wanted to make it an arts district. We brought in a lot of art galleries. But you’ve probably noted, Hawaii is not heavy on the arts. It’s a few people who are major collectors, and nobody else buys serious art.

"So we originally had a bunch of art galleries down here, and they couldn’t make it. Pegge Hopper is still across the street, and she’s fabulous, and she does well and she brings in other people’s art as well. But it’s more of a donation to the community than it is a money-making venture.

"What we’ve done is change it from the arts to boutiques," Friedlander said. "Fighting Eel is over here, Ginger 13 is on the corner, and so on. And all of a sudden, these guys are starting to blossom … and that’s not the bar people, those are real people supporting them. "

The arts remains a strong element in Chinatown, anchored by The Hawaii Theatre as well as smaller venues such as The Arts at Mark’s Garage, and there are night spots.

Stewart’s newest venture is Eleven 44, a lounge that doubles as a party rental space and a public nightclub in the later hours.

"The mistake that we have made in the arts and cultural district is that we have not separated ourselves from Chinatown," he said. "So any time there’s a problem in Chinatown, we get included. And anytime we do anything good here, they get it as well.

"So we’ve never been able to form an identity, like SoHo in New York or the Gaslight district in San Diego."

Still, there’s been a lot of improvement, he said, and that deserves to get more attention. Pohl agreed, remembering the bad old days.

"Nobody came downtown," she said, remembering. "They don’t come on Saturday, they didn’t come daytime, let alone nighttime."

Pohl was one of the first champions of having art openings, starting 12 years ago. Back then, her gallery was on Smith Street; the Bethel location opened three years ago, and the change on this street is palpable.

"This is the best street ever," she said. "It’s upscale, it’s getting there."

Whoever occupies the affordable rentals, that’s not enough to save Chinatown, she said. Much more foot traffic than that is needed.

"What we need is for this to be the ‘it’ neighborhood, instead of Kakaako," she said. "When Kakaako comes on full board, we’re going to be doomed if we don’t brush up our ‘it’ factor."