Homes That Stand Out in a Crowd : Hawaiian Gardens Is Replacing Tiny Dwellings With Larger Houses

In Hawaiian Gardens, a city short on living space, Tracy and Estela Cooper are among the fortunate residents who can stretch out a bit.

The couple recently bought a three-bedroom house with a two-car garage and an ample yard--amenities that might be taken for granted in neighboring cities such as Lakewood but are considered downright palatial in this crowded city.

The Coopers are beneficiaries of an ambitious, two-year city effort to rejuvenate cramped, deteriorating neighborhoods. The city has spent millions of dollars buying and demolishing clusters of small, ramshackle homes and replacing them with new, more spacious houses on larger lots.

“We have too many people living in substandard homes,” City Administrator Nelson Oliva said.

Census figures bear him out. In 1989, one-third of the city’s 3,518 homes were in some state of disrepair. Most needed a coat of paint or minor fix-ups, but 439 homes were in need of moderate work and 90 had serious problems or were beyond repair.

“We’re the slumlord capital of Southern California,” said former City Councilman Don Schultze, a general contractor who runs the city’s housing construction program.

He recalled finding one home, a one-room shack, almost eaten away by termites. Another home sat atop railroad ties instead of a concrete foundation, he said.

In 1993, the city began snapping up substandard homes and vacant lots around town. In most cases, owners were either too poor or too indifferent to keep them up, officials say.

By the time the buying spree ended last year, the city had paid $6.7 million to acquire 54 pieces of property. The city has spent another $2 million demolishing 31 homes and building 23 new residences. Work is about to begin on four more.

“Two dozen new homes is not a lot for a big city, but for us it’s a good start,” Schultze said.

In addition to improving overall quality of homes in town, the housing program attempts to ease overcrowding. With 14,250 residents crammed into less than a square mile, Hawaiian Gardens is one of the most densely populated cities in the county.

Many houses were squeezed onto narrow lots--a legacy of decades of county rule before Hawaiian Gardens became a city in 1964. Although most cities require homes to be built on lots at least 50 feet wide, the county allowed homes on 25-foot-wide parcels.

“We’re still paying for 50 years of poor planning by the county,” Schultze said.

The city has established a minimum lot size of 3,750 square feet--37 1/2 feet wide by 100 feet long--for all new houses.

The city is asking $150,000 for each new home, which has three bedrooms and two bathrooms in up to 1,400 square feet of living space. So far, eight have been sold, 10 other transactions are in escrow and the city has received offers on two unbuilt homes.

The Coopers bought a home built by the city on a lot once occupied by a small, run-down house at Pioneer Boulevard and Civic Center Drive, across from City Hall.

The house occupies a 6,250-square-foot lot--huge by Hawaiian Gardens standards--because the site was too small for two homes.

“I was quite impressed,” said Tracy Cooper, 32, an assistant power plant operator in Commerce.

The Coopers sealed the deal with a $7,500 down payment, a $120,000 mortgage from a private lender, and a $22,500 loan from the city.

The housing program is by no means a moneymaker for the city. After buying home sites, tearing down old buildings and putting up homes with a $150,000 price tag, the city loses an average of $30,000 on each home, Schultze said.

Oliva, the city administrator, said the program has had spinoff benefits. He finds that the new houses encourage neighbors to upgrade their properties.

“I’ve seen a tremendous improvement in the appearance of some neighborhoods because of this,” he said.

The housing program also has provided steady work and training for a number of residents, including some at-risk youths.

The city serves as the general contractor on the new homes. It hires subcontractors to do such work as framing, plumbing, wiring and roofing. City workers tear down the old homes and do the painting, landscaping and other odd jobs on the new ones.

“If I didn’t have this job, I wouldn’t be here right now,” said Luis Arellano, 18, a former gang member who works on the city’s 16-member housing construction crew. “I’ve been shot before, and I probably would’ve been shot again if I were still on the streets.”

A high school dropout with no previous work experience, Arellano is attending adult school at night.

Another crew member, Jose Dorado, 21, said the job is allowing him to pay tuition at Cerritos College.

“I feel like I’ve accomplished something,” he said, taking a break from painting baseboards in one of the homes.

“Most of the people I know respect what we’re doing. Others don’t care, but you have those people everywhere.”