A former downtown Honolulu office building is almost ready for re-use as low-income residential apartments.

The developer of Queen Emma Apartments plans to begin accepting applications on Monday to enter a lottery for selecting households to occupy 71 units where monthly rent ranges from $661 for studios to $1,701 for two-bedroom units.

To qualify, nearly all applicants cannot have a household income above 60% of the median income in Honolulu. That equates to $52,920 for a single person, $60,480 for a couple and $81,600 for a family of five, which is the maximum occupancy for the biggest units.

Four units also are reserved for households earning half as much.

Applications are to be accepted for two weeks, after which a lottery will be held to select tenants, who would be notified by Sept. 30. Occupancy is projected around mid-October.

The 12-story tower built in 1964 has been empty for more than a decade. Local affordable housing development firm Ahe Group and a partner bought the property and invested $40 million to convert the building into residential use, with state financing help that requires rental rates stay affordable for low-income households for 61 years.

The overhaul has maintained the exterior of the former Queen Emma Building that also is affectionately known as the “pimple building” for its architectural arrangement of brick ends protruding from exterior walls.

Application information is is expected to be posted soon at queenemmaapartments.com.