Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell is still hoping to salvage a $142 million deal that would transfer ownership of the city’s affordable housing projects to a private developer, but he doesn’t have much time.

By the end of business Tuesday, the city must convince the Honolulu Affordable Housing Partnership to hold up its end of the bargain or risk losing millions of dollars in litigation and future expenses to operate the apartments.

“The Caldwell Administration is still working hard this week trying to keep the sale of the affordable housing portfolio on track,” Caldwell spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said in an emailed statement. “We are focused on finding solutions to keep the sale moving forward in order to avoid serious consequences for the city’s budget.”

The Caldwell administration said the deal was threatened when Honolulu City Council Chair Ernie Martin introduced resolutions to cancel the sale as a means of gaining leverage in a fight over money that was going to nonprofits.

The developer claimed this resulted in the loss of investors in the project, and could be considered a breach of contract.

But Martin and other council members questioned that logic, saying that the developer’s financing must have been shaky in the first place if the mere introduction of legislation could jeopardize the funding.

Photo: Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell during a press conference about the Waikiki Natatorium. (Nick Grube/Honolulu Civil Beat)

—Nick Grube