Honolulu City Council member Carol Fukunaga<\/span> <\/span>wants to make sure that there is a mix of incomes among residents in three high-rise buildings in Chinatown that the city wants to sell to a private developer as part of a major public housing deal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Fukunaga<\/span> proposed a sales stipulation <\/span>during a City Council meeting on Wednesday, that drew fire from affordable housing advocates and members of Mayor Kirk Caldwell\u2019s administration who said it could be interpreted in a way that would displace 309 low-income tenants from buildings that contain a total of 526 units. <\/span><\/p>\n
It could also cost the city about $18 million to relocate the tenants, according to the administration.
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Honolulu Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga listens to public testimony on June 4, 2014.<\/p>\n
PF Bentley\/Civil Beat<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to be the council member that voted for the displacement of people,\u201d Anthony Marlin, a housing advocate, told Fukunaga during\u00a0the hearing. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be that<\/em> council member.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Fukunaga, who appeared flustered during the hearing as she responded to criticism, wants to change a 2008 City Council resolution that gives incentives to owners to rent out units in <\/span>Marin Tower, Harbor Village and Chinatown Gateway Plaza to households <\/span>that earn 60 percent or less of the average median income. <\/span><\/p>\n
This translates to a maximum of $58,740 for a family of four and $41,160 for a single person.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The councilwoman’s amendment, which was ultimately sent back to the Budget Committee for further discussion, would instead require that the three buildings contain a similar mix of incomes among residents as was mandated when they opened more than two decades ago.
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The mixed-income buildings were originally established \u201cas a way to try to revitalize downtown Chinatown and add to the mix of previously constructed low-income buildings,\u201d Fukunaga said during the hearing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
However, Ember Shinn, Honolulu’s managing director, told Fukunaga\u00a0that there weren’t any units reserved for households earning 60 percent or less of the median income when the buildings first opened.<\/p>\n
So the resolution suggests that 309 of the current residents would have to move once the buildings are sold.<\/p>\n
Shinn said that federal relocation laws would require the city to cover future housing costs for the people who were displaced.<\/p>\n
The sale of the three buildings is part of a larger effort to sell a total of 12 housing projects that cost the city about $7 million a year to maintain.<\/p>\n
A deal to sell the properties for $140 million to Honolulu Affordable Housing Partners LLC fell through last year and the city is planning to reopen the bidding process.<\/p>\n
Fukunaga\u2019s amendment added to the discord<\/a> last week during a Budget Committee meeting after she proposed more modest changes to the city resolution that would give incentives to developers to attract residents with a range of incomes to the units. <\/span><\/p>\n