One potential benefit of a sale would be if facilities or services were improved. But critics say th

Carmel Partners, a San Francisco-based real estate investment group that's buying the private Kukui Gardens affordable rental project cheap train tickets usa downtown, said it has met with several City Council members to discuss buying all 1,250 of the city's affordable units.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann declined to comment yesterday and referred cheap train tickets usa questions to a city housing staffer. cheap train tickets usa In December, Hannemann said he would agree to a sale of the city's affordable housing cheap train tickets usa if the units stayed affordable and tenants were not kicked out.
One potential benefit of a sale would be if facilities or services were improved. But critics say the city would be moving in the wrong direction if it gets rid of affordable housing amid a growing homeless problem.
"It would put a lot of people into trouble," said Ron Moniz, a 61-year-old disabled tenant in the city's cheap train tickets usa Marin Tower complex on Nimitz Highway. Moniz said he fears his rents will soar if the city sells to a private investor.
City Councilman Rod Tam, in whose district many of the projects are located, said he would mobilize cheap train tickets usa tenants against a for-profit investor that wants to redevelop the rentals and build more expensive housing.
Buck Bagot, a San Francisco-based affordable housing consultant who is helping Kukui Gardens tenants, said he's encouraged that the city is requiring the units remain affordable. But given the shortage of affordable housing in Hawai'i, the city should be increasing its inventory of affordable housing, not getting rid of it, Bagot said.
In June, the city hired a real estate consultant, REH Capital Partners LLC of El Segundo, Calif., for about $100,000 to review cheap train tickets usa the city's affordable housing properties, target potential buyers and estimate the properties' value.
City Councilman Todd Apo, who met with Beda about three weeks ago, said Carmel is particularly interested in the city's Chinatown properties. Apo said he told Beda the city would only sell the apartments if rents remained affordable.
The group spent about $10 million on improvements. Rents rose by about $100 to $200 for units previously rented for $800 a month, and increased by $200 to $360 for units previously rented for $925 a month. The group then sold the complex to an affiliate of Los Angeles-based cheap train tickets usa Douglas Emmett Realty Advisors for $108.5 million in January 2005.