Lahaina letter carrier Lester Natividad returns to his vehicle after dropping off mail at the Lahaina Crossroads Apartments Tuesday morning on Luakini Street. The Maui County Council voted on Tuesday to allow the county to use up to $11 million to purchase the apartments in hopes of saving the housing for residents who were told to vacate the complex earlier this year. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

Considering that “time is of the essence,” the Maui County Council voted to allow the county to use up to $11 million to purchase the Lahaina Crossroads Apartments where residents had been told to vacate earlier this year.

“This is a time-sensitive matter in that we have a willing seller at this moment and we have people living in unstable housing conditions,” said Council Member Tamara Paltin, who holds the West Maui residency seat, during a reconvened council meeting on Tuesday morning.

Tenants of the 20-unit building at 767 Luakini St. received notices to vacate in June so the units could be renovated and converted into transient vacation rentals or a hotel, which is permitted by current zoning.

The long-term tenants, which included retirees on fixed incomes, would have to leave and find housing elsewhere.

In July, Paltin introduced a resolution that was later passed, urging the council to authorize purchase of the apartment complex for the benefit of long-term tenants.

Due to “public outcry” over losing housing, Paltin said that the county should move “expeditiously.”

Council Member Gabe Johnson fully supported the bill, saying that the county needs to follow the “housing first model.”

“But how can we do housing first when we don’t have housing? So having a building already there, already constructed, you can allow our folks to be in a home that they need at this present time, there’s no waitlist,” Johnson said. “This should happen more than just this one time. This is a way forward. We should be looking at other buildings and grabbing them up for our workforce and affordable housing.”

Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino had requested up to $11 million to purchase the Lahaina Crossroads apartment building, though final appraisals to determine costs of the building are still being assessed, Paltin said, which means that it may cost less than $11 million.

Still, council members are hopeful about the county purchasing the complex before another buyer bids higher.

The property is owned by Hassan, Atef M and Khetam M Trust, according to Maui County property tax records.

“From what I have heard, also, is if county doesn’t buy it, they can make a lot more selling it to off-island interests for the purpose of the hotel, so with anything, it’s a compromise and as member Johnson said, we need to be diligent before these middle folks get it,” she said. “If this falls through, there’s no doubt that off-island interests will be paying way more for it than $11 million and it will be a hotel, there’s no doubt in my mind.”

Referencing the county’s current dilemma over acquiring 257 acres within the Maalaea Mauka/Pohakea Watershed from developer Peter Martin, who beat them to the sale, Council Member Kelly King said that they’ve seen what could happen if “we don’t move quickly enough.”

“I support this bill. I think we did learn a hard lesson when we were in negotiations with Maalaea Mauka that was scooped out from underneath us,” said King, who holds the South Maui residency seat. “(Lahaina Crossroads) is a valuable purchase for the County of Maui, so I think we should stay focused on getting people into affordable housing and trying to close on this deal.”

Council Member Mike Molina said that the county needs to take advantage of the opportunity to buy the apartment complex. Otherwise, the property owner might get “tired of the wait” and choose a different buyer.

“What we certainly don’t need is anymore constituents facing the prospect of being houseless, so this is an act of compassion on the part of member Paltin and the rest of us who are going to support this,” Molina said.

Council Chairperson Alice Lee and Council Members Shane Sinenci, Yuki Lei Sugimura, Tasha Kama, King, Molina, Johnson and Paltin supported the bill. Council Vice Chairperson Keani Rawlins-Fernandez was excused.

“Let this be a lesson to all of us that we need to be more proactive and get these types of properties before speculators do and preserve our housing inventory,” Paltin said. “This is a hard lesson to learn, an expensive lesson, but we can’t allow it to continue to happen because we are already struggling and it will get much worse.”

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.