Public housing dispute over $1B redevelopment raises accusations of lavish spending

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The nasty monetary divorce over the $1 billion redevelopment of the Mayor Wright Housing mission is flaring up with accusations of lavish spending.

The dispute comes because the state is shifting forward with a brand new plan to rebuild the getting older, crime-ridden public housing mission.

In studies introduced at board conferences, the Hawaii Public Housing Authority mentioned that after it terminated its settlement with Hunt Firms in 2020, it discovered quite a lot of questionable expenditures that Hunt tried to go off to the company — and in the end to taxpayers.

Based on the HPHA, it included:

• $800 in prime rib dinners for workers, full with high quality wines and whiskey
• Almost $500,000 in disputed charges paid to a building agency;
• and improper mileage reimbursements of $2 for workers’ journey from Hunt’s downtown workplaces to the HPHA’s Kalihi headquarters.

Inexpensive housing advocates are outraged.

“When once we say that reasonably priced housing is the highest precedence in our group, however we see this bickering and nickel and diming? It actually doesn’t serve the general public,” mentioned HI Good Neighbor member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam.

The HPHA has employed an outdoor legislation agency to resolve the dispute. It declined remark.

Hunt mentioned they spent greater than $4 million of its personal cash on the mission and that the contract was unjustly terminated.

“We disagree with the gross mischaracterizations and false narratives superior by HPHA management,” the corporate mentioned.

With the demise of the take care of Hunt, the state is now seeking to construct reasonably priced leases and leasehold residences.

S. Sen. Stanley Chang, D-Hawaii Kai mentioned the state legislature this 12 months appropriated $10 million in the direction of the event of 300 leasehold condos and 300 mixed-income leases at Mayor Wright.

He additionally mentioned costs and rents will largely be based mostly on the price of building and solely native owner-occupants should buy or hire.

“What persons are actually involved about is that they don’t need rich abroad buyers or speculators to be utilizing Hawaii housing as automobiles to park their cash and to revenue off of individuals,” Chang mentioned.

The HPHA is now within the means of finalizing bid request for potential builders.

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