Linda Schatz, the wife of U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, has been hired by Forest City Hawaii, one of the largest homebuilders in the state, as development manager, the company said Tuesday.

She began work on Oct. 13 and is primarily responsible for the marketing of Forest City’s $140-million Kapolei Lofts rental residential neighborhood, which began grading work on Oct. 27.

Linda Schatz worked in the commercial real estate division of Kamehameha Schools from 2008 to 2013 and was involved in planning its Kakaako master plan. Schatz studied architecture at the University of Hawaii, earning a doctorate of architecture in 2009. Her thesis was on transit-oriented development in Iwilei.

The Kapolei Lofts are being built on a 17-acre lot at the corner of Kapolei Parkway and Wakea Street. The first of the 499 units will be open in fourth quarter 2015.

“Linda’s experience with large-scale, master planned communities makes her ideally suited to lead the day-to-day public outreach and marketing activities in support of Kapolei Lofts, as well as other new homebuilding projects we undertake,” said Jon Wallenstrom, president of Forest City Hawaii, in a news release.