Kamehameha Schools and an Oregon development firm kicked off construction Thursday on an affordable-rental apartment and retail complex in Kakaako that represents a unique endeavor for the trust.

With a toss of dirt and a blessing given by Kamehameha Schools Chaplain Kordell Kekoa, representatives of the development team, along with local government officials, celebrated starting the project called Keauhou Lane which will feature 209 apartments reserved for residents earning up to Honolulu’s median income.

“A‘ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia — many hands make light the heavy load,” said Robert Nobriga, chairman of the trust’s board.

Kamehameha Schools, which owns the 1.6-acre project site bordered by Pohukaina, Halekauwila and Keawe streets, made a unique arrangement with Portland, Ore.-based development and investment firm Gerding Edlen to produce Keauhou Lane.

The trust leased the land to Gerding Edlen and invested in the project in a partnership that has Gerding Edlen developing the property and managing the apartments and retail when completed. The setup is a first for Kamehameha Schools, the state’s largest private landowner.

In the past, the trust typically leased its land to developers without maintaining an operational tie to the property, or developed land itself or sold land for others to develop.

Nobriga said Keauhou Lane was a complicated and collaborative project, and he praised Gerding Edlen for getting the $90 million development off the ground. “We appreciate your leadership,” he said.

Brent Gaulke, a Gerding Edlen partner, had some trouble pronouncing Hawaiian words including Keauhou and kahu as well as the governor’s name, but his partners took no offense.

“Thank you, Barrett,” Kordell joked, prompting good-natured laughter after Gaulke introduced the kahu as kay-hu and then ka-ku. “We’ll get it right.”

Gaulke, who led the ceremony, was gracious. “We are honored to be the shepherds of this project,” he said.

Keauhou Lane is slated to rise six stories with apartments topping retail and restaurant space along an interior pedestrian promenade linked to a planned city rail station and an adjacent residential condominium tower called Keauhou Place which is already under construction.

Ray Soon, chief of staff for Mayor Kirk Caldwell, said Keauhou Lane could become a model for affordable residential transit-oriented development, or TOD, in Honolulu. “When people ask me what TOD looks like, this is what TOD looks like,” he said. “You’re setting the model and paving the way.”

Gov. David Ige complimented Kamehameha Schools and Gerding Edlen for helping address Hawaii’s affordable-housing shortage. “We know our community needs housing, and it needs projects like this,” Ige said.

The state provided some financial assistance for Keauhou Lane through an excise tax exemption on construction expenditures and residential tenant rental income plus a $5 million low-interest loan in return for keeping rents affordable for 30 years instead of 15 years.

Apartments for the initial 15 years will be available to residents earning up to Honolulu’s annual median income, which is $67,100 for a single person, $76,700 for a couple or $95,800 for a family of four. For the second 15-year term, tenants may earn no more than 120 percent of the median income.

Projected monthly rents range from $1,450 for 300-square-foot studios to $2,157 for two-bedroom apartments with 632 to 745 square feet of living space.

Of the 209 units, there are 47 such studios and 72 two-bedroom units.

There are also four 400-square-foot studios for $1,550 a month and 86 one-bedroom units with 451 square feet of living space for $1,797 a month.

Rent includes electricity, water and sewer but no parking, though about 180 parking spaces in the adjacent tower will be available to apartment residents for an extra fee. The tower also will contain 100 stalls for Keauhou Lane retailers and restaurants.

Gerding Edlen anticipates it will begin to seek tenants in spring 2017 in preparation for the project opening in summer 2017.

“This is important to our people, it is important to our community and it is important for our future,” Nobriga said. “Imua Kakaako.”