Input sought on redevelopment of Varona Village

After waiting decades for promised renovations, residents of a former sugar plantation village are being asked for input on redevelopment plans.

City efforts to redevelop Varona Village — one of eight communities in Ewa Villages built for Ewa Plantation Co. sugar workers and their families between 1900 and the 1950s — have stalled since the 1990s.

The 26-acre community, with about 90 lots, is now being eyed for affordable housing development, and city plans are in the works to issue a request for proposals in July or August, seeking developers interested in rehabilitating Varona.

City officials are holding a public meeting on the matter at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the D.E. Thompson Village community meeting room, near Immaculate Conception Church on Renton Road.

City Councilman Ron Menor, who represents the area, said the meeting will give community members and residents an opportunity to provide feedback and voice concerns before the city issues a request for proposals. He added that a representative from the city Department of Community Services, which is overseeing the RFP, will be at the meeting to explain the redevelopment process.

“One of my concerns has been the health and safety issue regarding the dilapidated conditions of the housing,” Menor said. “The city made a promise to the plantation workers … that the city would eventually rehabilitate their neighborhood and community as they had with other places such as Tenney and Renton villages.”

The city acquired Varona and nearby Tenney and Renton villages when Oahu Sugar, Ewa Plantation’s successor, shut down in 1995 and promised that the former plantation workers could stay and rent their homes. Officials drafted a plan that sought to rehabilitate the area and give tenants the option to buy their homes.

While Tenney and Renton villages were largely renovated, with lots sold to residents and other buyers, Varona was largely neglected. Dotted with abandoned houses and vacant lots, some area residents call it a place time forgot.

Over the decades, Varona’s redevelopment plans stalled due to, among other things, closure of the city’s lead housing agency, failed attempts to trade the property for state land, and a scam orchestrated by a former city housing official that stole $5.6 million from the Ewa Villages redevelopment fund.

Last year, the city solicited a request for information pertaining to affordable housing development in Varona that sought proposals. It received one response, which would be used to craft an RFP and select a developer.