Barbara Badayos and June Kawewehi are among the last holdouts at the dilapidated Uluwehi apartment complex, which is scheduled for demolition and sits crumbling between the Wai'anae Mountain range and Wai'anae Intermediate School.
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| June Kawewehi and Barbara Badayos are among 13 tenants still residing in the Uluwehi apartment complex. The Wai'anae complex, part of a 53-acre model community development built in 1974, is scheduled to be demolished by the state in June.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
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Badayos and Kawewehi — two of 13 residents still living in four apartments at the 60-unit complex — have until the end of this month to vacate. The state says it will be torn down in June because it would cost less to build a new complex than to renovate it.
The apartments were part of a 53-acre model community development built in 1974 on ceded lands. The project's more than 350 privately owned homes will stay.
But even as the remaining apartment tenants contemplate their next move, some groups are at work to restore the complex and open it to families who otherwise wouldn't have a place to live.
The groups include Habitat for Humanity, which wants to work in partnership with the Hawai'i Coalition of Christian Churches to completely renovate the Uluwehi complex using volunteer help. Habitat would raise the necessary money and do the work; the coalition would coordinate the operation and screen tenant families.
And the state could save the $800,000 it would otherwise pay for the demolition, they say. It can even keep the land. All the coalition wants is a long-term lease for a nominal fee.
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| Trespassing warnings on doors in the Uluwehi complex are further signs of the area's neglect, some residents say.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
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"This is not rocket science," said Art Hansen, a retired architect who said he designed the Prince Kuhio Hotel and the Makiki Towers, among other projects. "We have the know-how. We can raise the money needed to do it."
He said the apartments would be maintained by the "sweat equity" of the tenants, who would be motivated by owning the apartments after paying off the mortgage in 20 years.
The Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i, which manages the apartments, said demolition is necessary because it's not possible to find building materials for the apartment exteriors because the developer used a then-new (and as it turned out inferior) material that's no longer on the market.
Badayos and Kawewehi acknowledge that they and the remaining tenants were given several extensions on the deadline to vacate, but say they've had trouble finding another place in Hawai'i's overheated housing market. The two pay a flat rental rate — $300 a month, utilities included.
"Oh, yeah, I've tried," said Badayos, 63, who has lived in the complex for almost three decades. "Kind of hard to find a place outside because they are expensive."
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| A dilapidated apartment in the Uluwehi complex: Uluwehi, which means decorative growth, has grown to be anything but decorative. A coalition of groups is seeking to halt the state's demolition of the apartment complex and instead renovate the property.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
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Badayos qualifies for housing assistance, which means she would be put on a waiting list if something became available.
Kawewehi, 45, is unemployed. But she received a letter last summer informing her that she no longer qualifies for housing assistance because the gross income of her husband, a plant worker, exceeds $29,550 a year.
Both women say it doesn't make sense to move out now when the place isn't scheduled to be demolished until June. With a couple of extra months, they say they might find a place to stay. Or at least they could save up some extra money.
"It's like we're being forced into homelessness," Kawewehi said.
The two say they've heard there's asbestos and lead paint in the units, which would be common for structures built in the early 1970s. They wonder if that's why the place is being razed. The state denies that.
Whatever the reason, the complex, which Badayos and Kawewehi say was well-managed and desirable until around 1992, has been allowed to deteriorate.
A park in the center of the U-shaped complex has grown shabby from neglect. The walkway is overgrown with weeds and none of the lighting fixtures along the path work. The unmowed lawn is littered with bottles, scraps of paper and broken tree limbs.
To Badayos and Kawewehi, the vacant buildings with shattered windows and "no trespassing" signs taped to the doors are silent reminders of a different time.
"When I came here 13 years ago, this park was beautiful," Kawewehi said. "The trees were trimmed, the grass was cut, and the lights all worked. It's disgusting to see it like this."
To Hansen, the retired architect, and Army Lt. Col. John Hansen, who isn't related, the Uluwehi apartments still represent something beautiful:
An opportunity.
Art Hansen said Habitat for Humanity wants to meet with Gov. Linda Lingle to discuss the idea.
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| Army Lt. Col. John Hansen, left, and retired architect Arthur Hansen are related in no way except their desire to see the apartments at Uluwehi renovated for low-income families in exchange for "sweat equity."
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
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So far, though, no meeting has been scheduled. But Art Hansen has had the ear of state Rep. Michael Kahikina, chairman of the House Housing Committee.
Kahikina, D-44th (Nanakuli, Honokai Hale), has said demolishing Uluwehi apartments in the midst of a housing crisis is illogical.
"Let's not tear it down," Kahikina said. "This is a state of emergency. I think we've got to save it. This is a doable project."
Wade "Pastor Boo" Soares, chairman of the Hawai'i Coalition of Christian Churches, said his organization is working out the criteria for selecting tenant families, should the renovation plan become a reality.
Essentially, the idea would be to make housing available for low-income families who were willing to work to better their lives.
Asked if that such a plan could include Badayos, Kawewehi and the others still living at the complex, Soares said, "Definitely — we don't want to create any more homeless."
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8038.
