A proposal to build a 650-foot residential tower in Kakaako, far above all other buildings in urban Honolulu, triggered public opposition and has prompted both bidders to offer 400-foot alternatives to blend with the tallest nearby buildings. That’s a reassuringly significant step, and the competing developers should press toward making many of the units affordable to working-class people with medium incomes.

When the Hawaii Community Development Authority announced the lofty plans for 690 Pohukaina a year ago, The Outdoor Circle condemned them as "an unwelcome, unnecessary infringement upon the viewpoint of hundreds of thousands of people."

Assurances that the "skinny side" of the building would be positioned from makai to mauka, to limit scenic disruption, did not lessen the legitimate concerns.

At that time, one of the developers, Ohio-based Forest City Enterprises Inc., offered an option of towers rising up to 560 feet or 400 feet and another with two 400-foot towers on a 2-acre site owned by the state and bordered by Keawe Street, Pohukaina Street and Mother Waldron Park.

The original plan submitted by Australia-based Lend Lease consisted of two towers, one 400 feet high and the other reaching 650 feet. However, it now offers to limit the second tower to 400 feet if the taller height is rejected.

A tower rising to 650 feet was suggested by Gov. Neil Abercrombie last year with the understanding that it would make it easier to allow more affordable housing to qualify for federal assistance.

The Rev. Bob Nakata, a representative of Faith Action for Community Equity, expressed concern at an HCDA public hearing on Tuesday that "many of our friends — maybe ourselves — will not be able to live in Hawaii" in the absence of such assistance.

Not necessarily. Forest City’s latest plan includes 390 of 840 rental apartments that would meet federal requirements that they be affordable to residents earning no more than about $80,000 for a single person or $114,240 for a family of four, regardless of whether the towers are no taller than 400 feet.

More than half of the 1,002 fee-simple condos proposed by Lend Lease in two towers 400 and 650 feet would meet the federal standards.

Forest City says its plan is tailored for local residents who will able to afford rental units at the site, to be retained in ownership by the state. Lend Lease maintains that studies show that the community wants to own homes with mortgage payments comparable to rents, with profits to be shared by the state.

With this week’s hearing and the two proposals out in the open, the tone of discussions over 690 Pohukaina grows increasingly encouraging for the state to meet affordable housing needs for working folks without undue giveaways, such as arbitrary lifting of established building heights.

Speaking generally, Duane Preble, a University of Hawaii professor emeritus of art, told the HCDA board that urban development here is the "last best chance" for good design that helps deliver affordable housing for Hawaii’s growing population.

We agree. Better yet, if done right, the development of 690 Pohukaina could set a high standard for future residential buildings in as many as 16 sites in Kakaako, four of which will be planned by HCDA in the next two decades.

The agency will host "open houses" of the plan overviews from 3-7 p.m. Nov. 29 and 9 a.m. Dec. 1 at 461 Cooke St., and will conduct another public hearing there at 9 a.m. Dec. 13.

So far, public involvement appears to be making a difference, with the HCDA and project developers laudably attuned to heeding reasonable concerns.