Housing is key to Chinatown revitalization

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

There's life after 5 p.m.

Ross Sowers, executive assistant of the Ramsay Museum on Smith Street, has a look at the second-floor loft above the museum that he is renovating. Among the additions will be a jacuzzi tub. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

They're the pioneers in the area between Smith Street and Fort Street Mall from Beretania Street to Nimitz Highway that is struggling to form its own identity as an arts and culture district.

A group of businessmen, landowners and artists have a vision to transform the district from "somewhat seedy" into a vibrant community filled with sidewalk and courtyard cafés, bars with live music at night, artists creating works in loft studios then showing them in adjacent galleries along tree-lined streets, and pedestrian malls filled with evening strollers.

Fighting crime has been a focus in the area in recent years. With that on the wane, all that's needed now is people.

But those working toward a Honolulu Culture & Arts District think they know how to bring the crowds in: Get them to live there.

Using the upper floors of the area's historic buildings, some more than 100 years old, they hope to build lofts for sale or rent, creating spaces for artists to live and work in. There are a handful of lofts now, including one built as a demonstration project. The hope is the idea will take off.

"We need to make sure there is loft housing available and to improve upon the housing opportunities for urban professionals and artists," said Christina Kemmer, spokeswoman for the group. "A population that will support the businesses that will come into the area tied to culture, arts, education and entertainment."

When they were first built, the properties were typically used by families that ran a shop downstairs and lived above. Those businesses are mostly gone and the upstairs spaces are often left empty.

The Honolulu Culture & Arts District has been developing for more than two years, but operating with only volunteers, progress has been slow. They have created a nonprofit organization and raised about $150,000 in grants to continue their work. The group expects to hire an executive director this year to lobby the city and state for support, develop a strategic plan and create demonstration projects.

The commercially zoned property is too expensive for struggling artists, and urbanization would destroy the historic ambience of the area, so lofts are a perfect solution that would draw residents and tourists to the area, Kemmer said.

"We plan to encourage the arts by supporting the lifestyle with conveniences and proximity," said Kemmer. "We see clean, historic and desirable buildings rather than old, scary and cheap."

Kemmer, executive vice president of Communications-Pacific, said people ask her frequently about renting the top floors of the turn-of-the-century building for lofts, but few are available. Parking and access restrictions placed on rentals make it expensive for a landowner to convert a property from business to loft. City rules allow multifamily use, but don't provide for a single-family dwelling above a business, so a variance is needed to create a loft occupied by just one person or couple.

"Where there seems to be a struggle is the interpretation of business downstairs, living quarters upstairs," Kemmer said. "If you own the business, you obviously can live upstairs. If you don't own the business and have a tenant, that is where it seems to be a zoning problem."

There are also questions about what kinds of improvements are needed to make the properties accessible to the handicapped, including elevators or parking, and how much that would cost.

Russ Sowers, executive assistant of the Ramsay Museum on Smith Street, examines the second floor loft above the gallery. The loft is in the process of being renovated and will serve as a demonstration project for parties interested in developing similar residences. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kemmer said the designation of the cultural and arts district would be similar to one given to Hale'iwa several years ago and would allow for protection of historic buildings, creation of new parks and artwork, regulation of tenants and storefronts, and provide money for promotions and other events.

"To get to that point, we want to be able to assist with attracting entities related to arts, education and entertainment to come into the district and rent space ... loft-style living preferably, because they are easily adaptable to create studios in the same space," Kemmer said.

Local artist Ramsay and her husband, Dr. Norman Goldstein, renovated a 77-year-old building on Smith Street for their art gallery and medical offices.

Ramsay has built a 1,000-square-foot studio loft above the gallery as a demonstration project so other landowners can see what it would look like.

The loft has large open windows that allow breezes and overlooks a tree-filled back lot. She has put in wall units for storage, a simple refrigerator and sink and a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub.

"There is a lot of empty space in Chinatown," Ramsay said. "People ask all the time, 'Where can we live?' "

Ramsay said she loves the old buildings, and they work perfectly for mixed use, residential above and commercial below.

"To me people are the last missing component for making this neighborhood complete," Ramsay said. "The more people that come, the more improved the area will be."

Developer Bob Gerrell is chairman of the mayor's Downtown/Chinatown Task Force. Gerrell said the city has invested millions of dollars in public improvements in the area, including an increased police presence. That, along with the federal Weed & Seed crime-fighting designation in Chinatown has been successful in driving out much of the criminal element that made the area infamous.

"We've installed video surveillance cameras on every corner, put in all new halogen streetlamps — the brightest of any area on O'ahu — and built a new police substation on Hotel and Maunakea streets," Gerrell said. "There is very little visible crime. The problem is at night; it is frightening because there is nobody else down there on the streets."

Ramsay said that with crime on the way out, it is time to bring the people in.

"Sixty-thousand people drive in every day and 60,000 drive out every night," Ramsay said. "That makes big gridlock on the freeways."

Some of those people have the money and would invest in a loft if the amenities were present, she said.

"They want a congenial atmosphere to spend some time and walk to the theater, have a nice meal out and walk home rather then sit in a traffic jam," Ramsay said.

Gerrell said most cities with loft districts have started in redeveloped areas where artists go in and rent or buy inexpensive property. The difference between those Mainland areas and downtown/Chinatown is that property is not cheap here, he said.

"The underlying zoning in Chinatown is the same as under First Hawaiian Bank tower. Land is $200-plus a square foot," Gerrell said. "The land and even the old historic buildings sell for a lot of money here, so the average struggling artist or the person who would pioneer going into an area like that can't afford to do it."

Kemmer said the group is looking at other projects like the South of Market housing development in San Francisco, where federal housing and urban development grants were used to revitalize the area.

"We are trying to partner all the different pieces," Kemmer said, by looking at such things as "what tax exemptions exist in other cities so we don't have to reinvent the wheel."

Barbara Hastings, a partner at Hastings & Pleadwell communications company, lived in a Chinatown loft for two years and said for the right people it is worth the effort. She left after a very loud business moved in downstairs, destroying the atmosphere.

"We were right in Chinatown," Hastings said. "It was commercial space. We went in and put in a toilet and sink, a shower and a bar/kitchen and raised up the bed platform. It was wonderful. We loved it.

"We used to hang out on Hotel Street. Most people thought we were nuts, but then they would come down and change their minds. It was exciting to be down there."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.