Given the dire shortage of affordable homes on Oahu, all should be rooting for a new city project in Kailua to succeed.

Things are still at the early stage, with the city just completing a $5 million acquisition of land at 734 and 735 Kihapai Place, and developer selection and public hearings for the 42-unit project still to come. Even so, the default for Kailuans should be support, not opposition — or at the very least, an open mind for the four-story rental project.

On Thursday, Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced that the city Department of Land Management (DLM) had bought the vacant lots, overgrown with weeds, to create much-needed affordable housing in the Kailua area. The purchase price includes the land plus construction drawings for an apartment building of 42 one- and two-bedroom units; the city intends these for individuals and families earning up to 80% of area median income (AMI). Renderings show 14 units on each of three stories, and a parking lot on the bottom floor.

“Today, we take a significant step towards building a more inclusive and vibrant community,” said Blangiardi. “By purchasing land in Kailua for affordable housing, we affirm our commitment to ensuring that every resident, regardless of their background or income, has the opportunity to live, work, and thrive in our city.”

While close to Kailua town, the lots are not along a main road, which should ease community concerns of undue traffic. The parcels cover about 24,590 square feet abutting Kawainui Marsh, at the end of a dead-end street already zoned for apartments.

Valid concerns can be expected to arise over any number of unknowns — say, financial wherewithal of the city’s development partner, or unanticipated environmental findings — and they should be vetted accordingly. But sheer NIMBYism — the dreaded “Not in My Back Yard” mindset — should not be allowed to doom this project.

This brings to mind another affordable housing proposal from just a few years ago, which drew considerable controversy and split the Kailua community: the Kawainui Street Apartments, proposed by Kailua-based Ahe Group. The apartment building proposed for Coconut Grove, on the corner of Kawainui and Oneawa streets, sought to produce 73 apartments with monthly rent as low as $521. But despite solid support from many, the project ultimately died amid picketing, a petition, traffic and parking concerns, and fears of community destruction raised by avid detractors.

One major difference — and advantage — of today’s Kihapai Place project is that the property is already zoned for apartment use, whereas the Ahe proposal needed zoning exemptions. Also, Kihapai Place’s four-story scope seems aligned with the area’s sustainable communities plan, another point of contention with the earlier project.

The city now will be seeking a public-private partnership with a developer to build, operate and maintain these rentals; a public hearing will be held for community input.

Solid projects, and neighbors’ open minds, are key to making headway against the shortage of affordable rentals. For every 100 Hawaii renter households earning 80% of AMI, only 74 homes are affordable and available; at 50% of AMI, availability plunges to just 44 units, according to 2021 figures from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

It’s worth remembering that before Kailua’s gentrification and tourism influx over the past couple of decades, affordable units could readily be found in its neighborhoods. Not anymore.

In September 2020, Laura E. Thielen, executive director of Partners in Care, noted that only one of Oahu’s 148 affordable-housing projects is in Kailua — built in 1992 — and it has 10-year wait list.

“Our community desperately needs some affordable housing available in the Kailua area,” Thielen said then, in support of Ahe’s proposal.

She’s still right, of course. Let’s hope no insurmountable red flags get raised on this project — and that includes NIMBY objections that conspire to scuttle needed housing.