With a computer keystroke from a Kapolei office building, Brandon Hegland made many Hawaii senior citizens happy Thursday as winners in an affordable- housing lottery.

The random drawing was held to prioritize 436 applicants for 154 rental apartments reserved for kupuna with low incomes.

Initial residents are scheduled to start moving in next month at Hale Moena Kupuna, a 13-story tower and the tallest building in the commercial core of Kapolei.

About 20 applicants showed up to witness the lottery held in a rented room at the Campbell Square office building about a block from Hale Moena.

There was little suspense, however, because Hegland, a regional property manager with Michaels Management that will run Hale Moena, used a Google spreadsheet that randomized the order of lottery entrants with the click of a button.

“It’s like spinning an old bingo tub, but we don’t get to see it,” Michaels Management President Kimberlee Schreiber explained moments before Hegland tapped his laptop keyboard.

“It’s done,” Hegland announced. “Just like that.”

Kimberly Cantrell, a 62-year-old retired nurse who moved to Hawaii from Chicago almost four years ago, ranked third in the drawing.

“I’m thrilled,” she said, explaining that she intends to move out of an unaffordable $1,000-a-month rental in Makakilo and into a one- bedroom Hale Moena unit that costs $678 a month.

Monthly rent at Hale Moena ranges from $633 for studios to $1,627 for two-bedroom units and is pegged to household income that can’t be over 60% of the median income on Oahu for most units. Eighteen units are reserved for households earning up to 55% of the median income, and eight units are for those earning no more than 30%.

To qualify, applicants must be at least 62 years old. The annual income limit equates to $50,640 for a single person, $57,840 for a couple and $72,300 for a household of four at the 60% level.

Tonja Hollander, a 12-year Hawaii resident who works part time at a school and applied for a Hale Moena unit, saw Cantrell celebrate her lottery result and exclaimed, “She won. Yea!”

Moments later Hollander learned she was 33rd. “I feel very blessed,” she said.

Before the drawing, Hegland let those in attendance know that what might be perceived as an unlucky number — 250, 300 or even 400 — still has a good chance for winning a Hale Moena unit because income for some applicants may be too high or too low after verification. Also, some applicants may be seeking a specific apartment size and pass up a different unit, or not qualify for another reason.

Hegland said typically 1 out of 3 applicants end up receiving an apartment after the review process.

“Even if your number is 436 today, there’s a good chance,” he said.

That was comforting to Maryann Wright, a Nanakuli resident who teared up a bit even before the drawing while local government leaders and Hale Moena development team members described the project and challenges involved with producing it.

“I have to move,” Wright said. “Being a senior citizen and living on a fixed income, being able to live in a place that I was born and, I hope, I will die in is very important to me.”

Wright’s lottery number was 285. “I have hope,” she said after the drawing.

All applicants are to be notified of their rank by phone and email, according to Hegland.

Before the drawing, Gov. David Ige congratulated everyone involved in the project, and state Rep. Sharon Har, who represents Kapolei and Makakilo, offered a prayer for applicants.

City Councilwoman Kymberly Pine, who represents Kapolei, spoke about the need for low- income housing and how difficult it is to deliver.

“You truly have gotten a gift that is hard to create,” she said.

Hale Moena, previously dubbed Kulana Hale, was developed by Highridge Costa with support from Coastal Rim Properties. Coastal Rim had planned a different arrangement of affordable housing on the site before turning over the principal development role to Highridge.

The partnership between the California-based firms is also building a second 13-story tower next to Hale Moena with 143 units designed for families with low incomes. That tower is on pace for completion next year. A third phase with single-story retail buildings is also planned.

Financing for all three phases was mainly provided by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., a state agency that helps facilitate affordable-housing development and funded $80 million of the $130 million project cost through bonds, a loan and state and federal tax credits sold to investors. Affordable rents for low-income households must be maintained for 61 years under the arrangement.