Owning a home that we can afford is what keeps us in Hawaii.

But that’s a dream out of reach for many of our generation, and we have seen friends move to the mainland in search of a home, away from family and lifelong friends.

We were fortunate to be able to qualify for workforce housing at 801 South St, which was developed under the Hawaii Community Development Authority’s rules to create a special category of affordable housing for young families and middle class residents like us. This workforce housing project — the only one in the Kakaako area — was built without any government funds.

It’s no surprise that most of our neighbors are just like us. We could not afford a luxury condominium with huge monthly maintenance fees. We saved for years, some on a single income, for the opportunity to buy our first home in a project like 801 South St. Our units are small, there are no resort-like amenities such as a swimming pool, sauna, and workout rooms. The monthly maintenance fees are reasonable and many of us avoid transportation costs by walking to work.

But we also have our eye on our future when we are able to increase our earning power and perhaps have a family and move into a larger home. We took on the market risk of waiting for two years for 801 South St to be built because of the potential to build equity to make that move. Wages have been stagnant for years and Hawaii’s lower salaries and higher cost of living make it even harder for us to find a way to build a nest egg for a home. Equity from our condominium would be the only means we have to purchase a larger home when we have a family.

The proposed requirement to share equity at resale will discourage potential buyers from taking on the market risk of real estate. Despite being an affordable building, a prudent buyer will not take the chance on a project that restricts their equity and limits their ability to move into a larger home.

That’s why we oppose HCDA’s proposed new rules on reserved and workforce housing. We understand the need to build more affordable housing but imposing more restrictions, especially on resales, are counterproductive. At 801 South St, only 4 percent of the original owners — mostly investors — sold their units to take advantage of a sellers’ market when there were few affordably-priced condominiums. Why change the rules for the 96 percent of us who have chosen not to sell and move?

Successful projects like 801 South St are a perfect example of a system that works and we hope the HCDA can use it as a model to provide housing that will grow with our lives.

Jianna Chew, Reyn Tanaka and Jared Say are members of the 801 South St AOAO board.