Craig Kitayama worries that if the Kukui Gardens affordable housing project near Chinatown is sold, he and his elderly parents will be forced to find shelter in an expensive housing market.

"If you keep getting rid of this kind places, where are you going to put people?" said Kitayama, 50, a golf course employee who has lived at Kukui Gardens for more than 30 years. "It's all about making money."

Kitayama was one of more than 100 tenants of Kukui Gardens who gathered in their community center yesterday to voice their concern over the proposed sale of the apartment complex to a private Mainland firm.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, delivered an impassioned speech, taking breaks while a translator relayed his words in Mandarin. In town until tomorrow, Abercrombie spoke in a small meeting room situated just off the 'ewa end of Beretania Community Park.

"I am your friend. I think it's important for everyone to know that there are people on your side. In solidarity, there is victory," Abercrombie said. "Are we going to turn ourselves into a new colony for the 21st century or are we going to be an independent state?"

Abercrombie's remarks came as residents worry about what will become of the 857-unit property after it is sold to San Francisco-based developer Carmel Partners later this year.

Chan Yok, a 63-year-old retiree, said he doesn't feel the new owners will do much to ensure that tenants will be able to stay.

"We're really upset they're making money for their own pocket," said Yok, who has lived in Kukui Gardens for 24 years. "They sell our homes and we'll be homeless."

Lai Young, 47, a housekeeper with Outrigger Hotels, said a lot of tenants subsist on small incomes, and he is concerned that the new owner won't understand what affordable means.

"We need Congress to protect this affordable housing," he said. "Mostly, the people (here) are low income."

Kukui Gardens Corp. has said that the buyer has no plans to tear down the complex. Any sale requires approval of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The 36-year-old Kukui Gardens outside Chinatown is one of the largest affordable rental projects in Hawai'i. In exchange for HUD financing, the owner agreed to keep rents affordable until 2011.

The apartment complex, which houses about 2,500 residents, charges tenants between $444 and $1,100 a month for one- to four-bedroom units.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.