Housing Group May Purchase Ward Site For Low Rent Village

Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.

Members of the Hawaii Housing authority went on record … today as favoring acquisition of 18 acres of Ward estate property on the Ala Moana as a site for a Hawaiian village type of low rent housing project provided it can be obtained at a reasonable price.

Chairman Charles J. Pietsch was authorized to confer with representatives of the state with a view to obtaining for the authority an option to purchase the land.

With $1,000,000 of federal funds earmarked for the project, and with Nathan Straus, chairman of the United States Housing authority, urging that the village and King-Liliha slum clearance project be started as soon as possible, Mr. Pietsch urged that steps to erect the village be taken immediately.

He reported that the official application for $1,400,000 of federal funds to undertake the King-Liliha slum clearance project would be completed in time to be sent to the USHA on Friday’s steamer.

Regarding proposals to establish the Hawaiian village at Papakolea, Mr. Pietsch pointed out that this would necessitate an amendment of the organic act, and that about a year and a half would elapse before this could be accomplished.

In the meantime, he continued, large numbers of Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians who come within the qualifications necessary for low rent housing assistance have made application for quarters in a Hawaiian village project.

Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians far exceed the number of other racial groups that have applied for low rent housing, Mr. Pietsch explained, adding that in view of this it seemed apparent that there should be no further delay in getting a project started.

He pointed out that construction of the village project on the Ala Moana site would not exclude Papakolea for all time from getting a low cost housing project. …

The Ward St. property is bounded by the Ala Moana and Kamekee and Queen Sts. and is opposite Moana park at its junction with the Kewalo basin.

Tentative plans for the project call for construction of 250 housing units of Hawaiian type, each unit estimated to cost $2,500. Extensive landscaping is also planned.