It’s been six years since the City and County of Honolulu started talking about selling its twelve large-scale affordable housing properties.
Under the new Peter Carlisle administration, the ball has started rolling again, and residents are worried.
City officials understand residents concerns and want them to know — they plan to sell the properties only on the condition that they stay affordable.
Steve Lohse has called Chinatown "home" for the past eleven years.
He lives at Chinatown Gateway Plaza.
"I pay $980 a month for my one-bedroom and that’s the top tier," said Lohse.
And that’s still way below the average price of $1339 a month for a one-bedroom rental in Hawaii, according the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Chinatown Gateway Plaza is one of twelve affordable apartment buildings owned by the City — 1500 units in all.
Half of the properties are located in Chinatown.
Some people pay as little as $300 per month; it’s all based on income.
"Many of my neighbors if they didn’t live here seriously do not know where they would live," said Lohse.
The City wants to sell all 12 buildings as leasehold property.
"Because we don’t belong in this business. The Mayor stated in his State of the City address that we don’t do a good job in managing these affordable housing properties," said Sam Moku, City Director of Community Services.
"What I’m worried about is in the sale of these properties that they don’t remain affordable," said Lohse.
And Steve Lohse isn’t alone.
Many of these people also live in one of the City-owned affordable buildings.
"We must ensure affordability in perpetuity of these buildings and must continually uphold any conditions in any future sale," said Cat Wong, Chinatown Gateway Plaza resident.
But the City sees the sale as more of a positive move.
"I believe there’s a great opportunity for the residents to get better operators, managers, and the ability to upgrade their living facility," said Moku.
And money made from the sale will go into the City’s coffers.
"It’s our intention not to have anyone relocated out of these properties. We want to keep it affordable and keep it stable," said Moku.
The City plans to release an RFP at the end of this month for a consultant to help with the sale.
And it still could take a couple of years for the sale to actually go through.
See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
