The city is close to approving a development agreement that will transform the long-vacant former Aiea Sugar Mill site into affordable rental housing for seniors.

Officials involved with the $48 million project, which will be developed by the nonprofit organization EAH Housing, were at the property Saturday to announce the 140-unit complex, which will be called Halewiliko Highlands, or “house of sugar.”

“This land is going to speak again with new life for our seniors who struggle to live here just like everyone else,” Mayor Kirk Caldwell said.

Once open in several years, Halewiliko Highlands will charge rents considered affordable to seniors earning no more than 60% of the area median income at the time.

Seventy-five of the units in the three-story complex will be reserved for those earning 50% of the median, and 13 units will be designated for those earning 30% — or $25,320 for an individual based on today’s median.

In addition to meeting the income requirement, the prospective renter must be 62 or older to apply for a unit.

Based on today’s median incomes, the rents would range from $571 to $1,170 monthly for the studio and one-bedroom apartments, said Caldwell, who noted the challenge of meeting the surging need among seniors for affordable housing.

A growing number of elderly are among Oahu’s homeless population, the mayor said.

“We owe it to our seniors to address this huge demand (for affordable housing),” he said.

The city currently has about 900 affordable rental units in the planning stages around Oahu that will be reserved for those earning 60% or less of the median income. The 900 includes the Aiea project.

Kevin Carney, EAH vice president in Hawaii, said there’s usually great demand for such income- restricted rentals and expects the Aiea project to have as many as 10 applicants per unit once on line.

Depending on what financing the nonprofit assembles to complete the project, a lottery may be required for tenant selection.

The biggest component of that financing is expected to be state tax credits for low-income housing.

The city acquired the Aiea property in 2000 and held a series of community meetings to develop a master plan for the area in 2002. Based on that feedback, the city years ago designated the 3.4-acre site for affordable senior housing.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution Wednesday that will give the city the authority to execute the development agreement with EAH, which beat out other bidders for the project.

City Councilman Ron Menor, who heads the panel’s Zoning, Planning and Housing Committee, said at Saturday’s news conference that he was confident the full Council will unanimously approve the resolution.

To effectively address the housing crisis on Oahu, Menor said, the government and affordable housing developers must work collaboratively, and government must continue to play a proactive role in making more land and financing available for such housing.

“This is a prime example” of that collaboration, Menor said of the Aiea project.

Once the development agreement is approved, EAH must meet certain benchmarks, including completing an environmental assessment, before the Council will be asked to approve a 65-year ground lease for the project.

If all goes according to plan, construction at the site next to the Aiea Public Library is expected to begin in 2021, with completion in 2023.

Lanakila Pacific, another nonprofit organization, will be an on-site provider of its Meals on Wheels program for the senior tenants.

EAH develops and manages housing projects in Hawaii and California.