The Kapiolani Boulevard corridor and the connecting Keeaumoku Street business area are changing. The hope is that along with any urban infill, and high rises replacing existing commercial buildings, will come a significant increase in affordable and workforce housing that Oahu needs most.

Ideally, some of the existing properties would be upgraded and converted to a residential-retail mix, so the renewal of the community would be more measured rather than a complete transformation.

For example, there are no immediate plans to redevelop the retail complex that included Like Like Drive Inn, its buyer said last week, adding that the intent is to keep several existing tenants where they are.

The property was purchased by an affiliate of the firm JL Capital for $15.3 million. That deal included acquisition of the name of the kamaaina restaurant, which closed in April 2020, a casualty of the pandemic. Does this mean it could reopen in a new venue? Perhaps.

In reality, how the gentrification plays out depends on oversight from the City Council, which needs to ensure there are homes for lower-income households in the mix.

Some density is being added to achieve the JL Capital plan to add 1,800-2,000 homes to the district’s residential inventory. One of its projects under construction — Sky Ala Moana, near the Like Like property — would include 474 residential condos as well as 300 hotel units in two towers.

The company indicated it has bought a dozen properties in the Kapiolani corridor for potential redevelopment. Executives also are eyeing “adaptive reuse,” which is encouraging.

Elsewhere, the conversion of offices to apartments has been successful in containing costs and turning around units in the affordable range, such as the Queen Emma Building in the Capitol district.

The real challenge: to include homes that can accommodate a modest family size, rather than just a yield of small units.

JL Capital is just one of the developers attracted to the area because the transit-oriented development (TOD) rules around the planned Ala Moana rail station allow for more density.

They also require more affordability, but so far in the prolonged and problematic rail construction process, the promise of TOD has not been fulfilled. It’s time to make sure that promises made are promises kept.