Cathy Cozzens relaxes in her Renton Village home at Ewa Plantation. It is being renovated by the City and County of Honolulu on Campbell Estate land leased by Oahu Sugar. Photo by Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin

Still, for many residents of Ewa's plantation villages, the changes are bittersweet.

While 280 old plantation homes are renovated and more than 250 new "plantation-style" homes are interspersed in the villages at Ewa, some residents are planning to buy at an "affordable" price and stay; others are preparing to move.

It's the end of the line for Yaeko Sugai and her husband, Wallace.

They've decided not to buy the Tenney Village home they've lived in for the past 14 years. Instead, the Sugais, who have lived the plantation life in Ewa for more than a half-century, will move into an addition to their daughter's Pearl City home.

"We like it, but this home is going to outlive us," said 72-year-old Yaeko Sugai. "We're retired. Most of the people are too old around here."

She said many in the area are retired and worried how they could afford to buy their refurbished homes, even at below-market prices.

"It will be very different," she said, gazing past a heavily laden mango tree at a row of brand new plantation-style houses across the road. "It's a nice place, but things change."

For many years, change came slowly to Tenney, Renton and Varona villages - home to generations of Oahu Sugar workers and their families. Even as development surged across the Ewa Plain, the bucolic communities remained intact - a remnant landfall amid a swirling tempest of progress.

Then the sugar industry hit the skids and Oahu Sugar shut down last year. Residents either retooled or retired. Their houses, built in the 1920s, continued to decay.

But further change was in the air. In 1989, Friends of Ewa began forming a plan to preserve the area's historic buildings and cultural nuances members feared were on the brink of extinction.

The city acquired 600 acres formerly leased by Campbell Estate to Oahu Sugar and began widening roads and installing new infrastructure there.

Teresita Delos Santos will probably buy her Ewa plantation home which is scheduled for renovation in the next two years.
Photo by Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin

The existing houses, being renovated by Ewa Villages Nonprofit Development Corp. in conjunction with the Department of Housing and Community Development, list for between $147,400 and $178,900, with discounts offered for the tenants of record. Those tenants will end up paying from $118,000 to $135,000 for the two- and three-bedroom units, said Douglas Davich of the Ewa Villages Nonprofit Development Corp. The new plantation-style homes are being sold for between $147,000 and $260,000.

The city is still looking for qualified buyers; deadline for applications is July 5, said Housing Director Roland Libby Jr.

"It's a tough market out there, even for affordables," he said.

And it's been "a constant struggle" keeping prices down. Libby said the large lots, which are necessary to maintain the historical "fabric of the village," and the expense of keeping old plumbing and other infrastructure operational while new systems are installed, have added to the costs.

"We're dealing with a lot of different life considerations out there," he said. "We are developing an 80-unit rental project for those who don't want to or cannot buy."

That shouldn't be a problem for Renton residents Praxedes and Alfredo Respicio.

Praxedes Respicio, 65, hit a $1.5 million jackpot this week in Las Vegas and plans to buy the family's plantation home.

Victor and Teresita Delos Santos have some reservations but say they want to buy the three-bedroom house they've lived in for about a decade. Victor Delos Santos is a retired mill worker.

"It's too expensive for this house," Teresita Delos Santos said, referring to the $148,000 price tag. "We have friends and our rent is low now. I'm used to it already. I like it here. xxx We'll do it if we can pass."

Terry Cozzens, who worked as a weed control coordinator at Oahu Sugar, lives with his wife, Cathy, in Renton Village where mill managers were traditionally housed. He wants to buy the big two-bedroom place but claims he hasn't been able to get a firm price quote and worries that termites will still be a problem even after renovation.

"They say it's going to cost $150,000 to rehab the house," Cozzens said. "Why don't they just tear it down and put something similar in?"

Rodolfo Ramos, president of Ewa Villages Community Association, said he's satisfied with the ambitious project.

"I think they've done a good job," he said. "There are a lot of people there who plan to buy. When it's completed, it will be one of the most unique communities in the islands."

Until then, some residents struggle with the decision.

"I think basically the cost of the houses is affordable," Ramos said. "The problem is that many lost their jobs because of the closing of the plantation. Because many are insecure as far as getting loans, having just gotten new jobs, that's a reason many won't purchase their homes."