Faced with an uncertain future that could include high rents or possible eviction, about 100 residents of the Date-Laau community gathered last night to discuss possible courses of action when their leases expire in December 2012.

The town hall-style meeting was sponsored by the Date-Laau Community Association and held at the Ala Wai Elementary School cafetorium. The meeting brought together residents as well as board members from nine cooperatively owned apartment buildings that sit on land recently purchased by Iolani School.

School officials announced in June that it would buy 5.5 acres adjacent to the campus for $23 million from Lum Kip Kee Ltd. and Lum Chang Tai Inc. The property consists of 21 contiguous parcels bounded on two sides by Laau and Date streets, and on the other two sides by the Iolani campus, The Royal Iolani and the Regency Towers condominiums. The land contains 262 units and about 500 residents.

The master lease and subleases covering the leasehold properties expire on Dec. 4, 2012, and residents are worried that rents would be increased and many would no longer be able to afford to live there.

At the time of the purchase, the school said it planned to use the land for a possible campus expansion, although no timetable was announced. Betty Lou Larson, president of the Date-Laau Community Association, last night said school officials in August told residents that the units could remain as rentals for 20 to 25 years and that Iolani would be charging them market-rate rents.

Larson said 23 percent of the residents are over 50 and 87 percent have incomes at or below 60 percent of the state's median income. If the school charges market-rate rents, that could mean doubling or tripling monthly payments, she said.

"The uncertainty creates a lot of panic," Larson said. "We have a lot of senior citizens on the property, a lot of young families. People feel like we need to know."

Thelma Oka, 93, said any rent increase would force her out of her Iolani Gardens apartment. Oka was an original owner when the building opened in 1959 and her monthly maintenance fee is $625, but she would become a renter when her leasehold interest expires in 2012.

"I have been living on a small fixed income. I have no children to assist or take care of me," Oka said. "Paying bills and the monthly co-op maintenance fee can be a financial challenge for someone in my situation."

Residents last night were asked to consider four options. Receiving the most support were options to:

• Mount a possible lawsuit against the sellers of the land, Lum Kip Kee Ltd. and Lum Chang Tai Inc., which the association believes were obligated to give tenants the first right of refusal to purchase the land.

• Seek financial assistance for apartment owners from Iolani School when the leases expire.

Representatives from each of the buildings' co-op associations will take back last night's discussion to their boards.

Val Iwashita, Iolani School headmaster, yesterday said he was surprised that the residents would call a meeting, since nothing has changed since the school met with them in August.

At the time, he said, school officials told the residents that, "We have no definitive plans for developing the property; that it will take years, if not a generation or more, to fully develop it; and we definitely intend to be good landlords and fair to all residents in the entire transition process."

He added that he did not know how the residents came up with their lease rent projections because the school has yet to set a rent schedule.

"There are so many imponderables at this point that we can't even consider what a reasonable rent would be for a particular dwelling," Iwashita said. "So to suggest that we're going to raise rents is preposterous."