Housing project hits right notes

The complexion of the Chinatown gateway section of Downtown Honolulu will be changing, and in a way that should enhance the potential of what could be a vibrant, multifaceted neighborhood.

If the plans for redeveloping the long-deteriorating Mayor Wright Homes play out as intended, the result will be the retention of its tally of 364 public-housing units as part of a public-private partnership that could entail a $1 billion total investment.

And if the blueprint sketches are realized, those would be part of a 2,500-unit community — a critically needed expansion of housing for low- and moderate-income populations, along with market-priced rentals in the highly desirable urban core.

Those are big “ifs,” of course. Hawaii’s history of lagging in the delivery of affordable homes stands as a warning of all the hurdles between now and the completion of what’s envisioned: up to 2,500 apartments mixed in with retail, office space, a preschool and other amenities.

The Hawaii Public Housing Authority, which has worked for years on stopgap improvements at the existing housing site, has selected the Texas-based developer Hunt Cos. to handle the project, as the lead element in a new entity called MWH Partners LLC.

The state agency submitted an environmental impact statement, detailing the current conceptual plan for four towers up to 380 feet high, in a complex of midrise buildings that includes some homes and retail businesses. The project also offers other needed elements such as a grocery store, a central park, a community center, rooftop recreation decks and an early childhood public school, according to the EIS.

What gives this project additional momentum is that it falls within the transit-oriented development zone, and with the addition of foot traffic from passengers coming and going on the rail, it should become even as bustling as the heart of Chinatown. This could become a vibrant community, one with a cross-section of Honolulu’s socioeconomic groups.

In theory, placing public housing within a demographic mix has been a preferred urban-planning approach in recent decades. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development began issuing grants under a mixed-use, mixed income concept in the 1990s.

The reaction to some of these projects also has been mixed, though. The principal critique has been that needed low-income inventory was lost in that “gentrification,” the needier residents displaced in the conversion to housing that crept off the affordable scale.

Still, there does tend to be better community cohesion when lower-income residents are not relegated to a anything resembling a separate “ghetto.” The challenge is in maintaining the unit count to keep existing residents housed with as little construction-related disruption as possible.

It does appear that the Mayor Wright project incorporates this commitment, and leaves the door open to additional deeply subsidized units if that can pencil out in the mix. In any case, Honolulu needs all the rentals it can get at low- to moderate-income levels, as well as market-rate apartments.

Assembling the financing required for public housing is no easy feat, and projects can bog down. Similar goals were set for the rehabilitation of Kuhio Park Terrace — the high-rise buildings in Kalihi were renovated, but not the adjacent low-rise complex known as Kuhio Homes.

The HPHA can and must do better with the Mayor Wright redevelopment. The 64-year-old complex, with its myriad water-heating, structural and security problems over the years, must be replaced. The state has a duty to make sure its publicly funded housing is safe and decent.

Fulfilling that mandate, while chipping away at a horrendous housing deficit, could be just the revolution this city needs.