A member of the board that controls the Kukui Gardens rental complex in Liliha yesterday vowed his support to the project's tenants who are fighting to keep the affordable apartments from being sold.

The Kukui Gardens Corp. this year announced that it planned to sell the 857-unit apartment complex on North Beretania Street.

The corporation said it needed to sell the project to support the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, which provides grants to Saint Louis School, Chaminade University and St. Francis Medical Center.

Kukui Gardens was developed by Clarence Ching in 1970 and the units were offered to people in the low- and moderate-income range. That requirement ends in 2011 when an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ends.

That has many of the 2,500 tenants concerned because they fear a new owner would raze the complex and build new and more expensive units on the 22-acre site. In the past three months, the residents have organized to prevent the sale and persuade the corporation to turn Kukui Gardens over to a nonprofit agency, which would keep the rents low.

Last night, Wallace Ching, a son of the late Clarence Ching and member of the Kukui Gardens Corp. board, met with about 100 residents and assured them that he will do everything he can to prevent the sale. But Ching acknowledged that he is just one of 15 board members and he believes he is the only one opposed to the sale.

"We do not believe that my father would have agreed to the sale under these circumstances and we feel an obligation to speak out," said Ching, who was accompanied by his wife, sister and daughter in a packed Kukui Gardens community center.

"When rents are skyrocketing out of the reach of more and more families and rising homelessness is a major social challenge, it is wrong to take an action that would further reduce the supply of low- and moderate-income housing in Honolulu," he said.

Kukui Gardens Corp. yesterday issued a statement, saying it is considering three prospective buyers.

The corporation said it has told the tenants association that it would not accept an offer from a buyer who would evict current tenants and tear down the complex.

The owners also said they are "working closely with the potential buyers to ensure that Kukui Gardens remains as a low- to moderate-income development beyond the expiration of the HUD agreement."

Wallace Ching said the names of the potential buyers have been kept from him because he is the lone voice against the sale.

"(The Kukui Gardens Corp. directors) have told you not to worry, that the new owners promise to leave the project in low and moderate rentals," Ching told the group.

"They have advised you to trust the new owners. But they won't even tell you who the new owners are. When it comes to being secure in your homes, you should not have to rely on the promises of an unidentified buyer."

Carol Anzai, president of the tenants association, has lived at Kukui Gardens for 33 years. She estimated that fewer than 25 percent of the families would be able to afford market prices.

Anzai said she is hopeful that the association and community groups that have come to its aid will be able to persuade the board to delay the sale.

"If we get somebody that is for profit, then the rents will go up sky high. If they give us a chance to look for a nonprofit group, then the rents can stay affordable," Anzai said.

She said she and her husband probably could afford to rent elsewhere, but she said Kukui Gardens is her home and she doesn't want to move.

"I've been doing volunteer work for 30 years and the seniors are my heart. I cannot abandon them," Anzai said. "I cannot just walk away from them. They don't have anybody to fight for them."

The Kukui Gardens Corp. did not say when it expected to announce that it had found a buyer.

Meanwhile, the Legislature is considering a measure that would authorize the state to use its power of eminent domain to purchase the complex. The measure has the support of the Lingle administration.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.