The Legislature and the governor seem to have come together at just the right moment in a last-minute attempt to save Kukui Gardens, the 22-acre, 857-unit affordable housing complex in downtown Honolulu.

It's a good example of what can happen when an issue is so urgent there's only one right thing to do.

In this case, it's saving all those affordable housing units in the face of a state housing crisis.

Legislators were forced to act when the Kukui Gardens Corp. began looking for buyers for the complex, raising the fear that a new developer would come in and replace the complex with market-rate housing.

Even though Kukui Gardens Corp. was under contract to provide affordable housing under the terms of its loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through 2011, it began an auction for the property starting at a reported $130 million.

To stave off that process, legislative measures proposed to condemn the property in order to take it over by eminent domain.

Doing so would also provide time for another non-profit corporation to step in and keep Kukui Gardens as affordable housing.

The tricky part is financing the deal. And that's where the governor's administration comes in.

The state's Housing and Development Corp. of Hawai'i announced it would be willing to issue revenue bonds that would help non-profit buyers preserve the affordable units.

The plan still requires a nonprofit to step forward to buy the property.

If the owners of Kukui Gardens will be patient, and if the Legislature and governor can work together, 2,500 residents may see their affordable homes preserved.