Updated at 4:16 p.m., Monday, January 8, 2007
Judge hints at ruling against Kukui Gardens group
Advertiser Staff
A federal judge said today that she'll likely rule that a local community activist group does not have standing to sue the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to block the sale of the Kukui Gardens apartment complex downtown.But tenants of the 857-unit apartment complex will be able to pursue their suit against HUD under U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway's tentative ruling, said Gavin Thornton, attorney for tenants and the community group, Faith Action for Community Equity.
FACE and hundreds of Kukui Gardens tenants sued HUD in October, seeking to bar HUD from approving owner Kukui Garden Corp.'s plan to prepay its $16.1 million, federally insured loan. The prepayment would allow the owners to sell the apartments to San Francisco-based Carmel Partners Inc. for about $130 million.
