Kuhio Park Terrace residents want more say in a planned redevelopment of the public housing project.

At a Hawai'i Public Housing Authority board meeting last week, the residents said they wanted to be involved in the process of choosing a developer for the project and defining the terms of the redevelopment.

"We need to be at the same table with the people that are making the decisions," KPT resident leader Sulieta Sakaria said in a news release. "This is important."

The residents also delivered several requests in a letter to the board. They asked:

• That the governor walk with residents through Kuhio Park Terrace.

• That a meeting be held with residents before the housing authority makes a final decision on redevelopment.

• That they have a voice in the redevelopment process. 

The housing authority has held meetings to discuss mixed-income redevelopment with public housing residents.

But Jun Yang of Faith Action for Community Equity Hawai'i, which is working with KPT residents, said the authority needs to do more to reach out to those who live in the housing project and get their opinions on what redevelopment should look like. The board has said it wants to pick a developer for the project by August, although Yang said a bid could be chosen earlier.

The state issued a request for proposals to redevelop KPT and Kuhio Homes in April.

The request asked for bids that would preserve the same number of public housing units at the projects for low-income families, while adding new units for higher-income families and addressing millions of dollars in needed repairs. Bids were due by May 1.

Chad Taniguchi, HPHA executive director, said four bids received by the deadline were qualified to move on to the next step — submitting a final proposal by July 10.

Some 2,500 people live at Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes in Kalihi. The redevelopment plan comes as the state is grappling with how to address a recent federal court class-action lawsuit, which alleges conditions at the projects are substandard.