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ELEVATOR WOES DRIVE UP HONOLULU CONDO TOWER FEES

Over the past five years, a faulty elevator system has taken most of the blame for a tripling of maintenance fees to $US1,800 a month at the 40-story Waikiki Marina tower in Honolulu, the Honolulu Civil Beat reports. The fee increases stem from the need to replace the elevator system. When the tower was built in the early 1980s, the exterior elevator system used was an indoor system mounted on the outside without appropriate protection from the elements, a condominium board member said, leading to service outages and costly repairs — nearly US$1 million over the past two years alone. An effort several years ago only to enclose the two elevators had a price tag of US$8 million, but that plan proved unfeasible because the building’s foundation couldn't support the added weight. The elevators are prone to shutting down during windy and/or rainy weather, often trapping people inside. Meanwhile, owners are stuck with units they can't sell because of the high fees, which, only five years ago, stood at $US600 per month. Board members say the building needs US$17 million in repairs.