Details of a plan to put up a senior affordable rental housing complex and community center on a closely watched city property along River Street are to be unveiled by Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Tuesday.

Caldwell is expected to announce that his Office of Strategic Development is in negotiations with a private developer to put up a seniors-only, low-income facility on the 1300 block of River Street that will house at least 100 people, as well as a community center. The developer, whom he declined to name, received the highest score among a panel of judges tasked with reviewing at least two proposals submitted to the city, Managing Director Roy Amemiya said Monday afternoon.

Amemiya declined to discuss plan details, noting that administration officials are scheduled to brief neighborhood leaders Tuesday morning before a noon news conference.

"To be fair to them, we want them to be the first to hear from the developer," he said.

The River Street property, currently the site of a two-story commercial-business complex, had been eyed by former Mayor Mufi Hannemann in 2006 for housing for the homeless. The stretch of River Street between Vineyard Boulevard and Kukui Street is widely known as a haven for the homeless, as well as drug and prostitution activity.

Hannemann’s administration cited a growing homeless population in the area in its push for a Housing First-style complex, but that plan was nixed amid strong opposition by community members who said there is as much demand for affordable housing as there is for homeless shelters.

It’s not clear, however, if the new plan to be unveiled Tuesday will win the support of a majority of its Chinatown neighbors.

Howard Lum, president of the Lum Sai Ho Tong Chinese Society, said he and others have had little communication with the Caldwell administration on the current project and are worried the building will be taller and denser than the 10 to 11 stories and 100 to 120 units they would like to see.

"From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be much bigger than we were hoping for," he said.

Lum Sai Ho Tong has closely monitored the city’s plans for its neighboring property and, along with other politically influential ethnic Chinese organizations, played a key role in rejecting Hannemann’s plans for a homeless shelter.

The City Council unanimously passed Resolution 14-34 last year urging the Caldwell administration to create a special area plan for Chinatown. It calls for city officials to work with the community to maintain and enhance "the integrity, culture and character of the Chinatown community and its Chinese and Asian heritage."

Lum on Monday noted that besides his group’s iconic Lum Sai Ho Tong building at Kukui and River streets, the Kukui-Vineyard section of Chinatown is home to the Quan Yin Temple, Mun Lun Chinese Language School, the Izumo Taishakyo Mission Shinto Shrine and Foster Botanical Garden, all of which are more than a century old.

Amemiya said while he couldn’t give specifics before Tuesday’s news conference, any proposals submitted had to incorporate the city’s desire for an affordable senior housing project, a community center and a design that would blend well with the Chinatown neighborhood.

The city will provide the land "at a very low cost" but the developer would need to come up with its own financing, he said.