An effort to add a public elementary school to an affordable rental housing development plan for state land in Kakaako was dashed Wednesday after a state board determined that the change, while desired, would be unfair to a competitive process that produced the original plan.

The board of the Hawaii Community Development Authority voted 8-0 to reject the proposed change that would have added an elementary school for about 750 students to the project known as 690 Pohukaina.

Adding the school would have reduced the residential component of the project from 804 apartments in two towers to about 400 mostly moderately priced rental apartments in a single tower next to a four-story school.

HCDA, the agency that regulates development in Kakaako and issued a request for proposals for 690 Pohukaina in 2012, entertained the change after a push from the state Department of Education and support from project developer Forest City Realty Trust.

But the board, which had long discussions with a state deputy attorney general on Wednesday and at a meeting last month, concluded that the proposed change was significantly out of line with what was offered to private developers through competitive bidding.

“The (request for proposals) described a very different type of project,” said board Chairman John Whalen. “The addition of a public school really changes the whole formula for development.”

Now HCDA staff has been redirected by the board to resume negotiating with Forest City on the developer’s original proposal.

However, Whalen expressed hope that an elementary school still could be developed on the site to address a lack of capacity in existing elementary schools serving Kakaako as the area is being developed with many residential high-rises.

“I feel it’s a very good fit for what Kakaako needs,” he said.

A representative of Forest City’s Hawaii affiliate did not attend the meeting and could not be reached for comment after the decision.

In December, the company said it was eager to proceed with finalizing plans and starting construction, though it was amenable to redesigning the project to add the school, which DOE said would cost roughly $40 million and could become a prototype for compact urban school design on Oahu near city rail stations.

DOE had expressed concerns for several years about existing school capacity being insufficient to accommodate people moving into new residential towers rising in Kakaako, and for more than a decade had envisioned a school on the 690 Pohukaina site that long ago was home to Pohukaina School.

The 2-acre site bordered by Pohukaina Street, Mother Waldron Park, Keawe Street and a low-income rental housing tower called Halekauwila Place was largely unused for several decades.

In HCDA’s request for proposals, the agency listed targets for the project that included 800 homes, including 300 affordable units and 500 market-priced units, 25,000 square feet of civic space, 10,000 square feet of community space, 30,000 square feet of commercial space and 30,000 square feet of high-technology incubator and innovation space.

Only Ohio-based Forest City and one other firm, Australia-based Lend Lease, submitted bids. HCDA’s board selected Forest City’s plan in late 2012 subject to agreeing on details including financial terms of a lease.

Forest City’s original plan called for 390 apartments for tenants earning no more than 120 percent of Honolulu’s median income, 390 units for tenants earning up to 140 percent of the median income and 24 luxury penthouse units. Nonresidential pieces included 35,000 square feet of civic space for state offices and library facilities, 4,400 square feet of community space and 30,000 square feet of commercial space for a restaurant, a small market, offices and other uses.

The developer had anticipated that it could finalize lease terms, start construction and have an initial phase open this year. But negotiations hit an impasse and then last year DOE began discussions about the school.