A foundering affordable rental high-rise project slated for state land in Kakaako is on a new path for development with two state agencies swapping control of the roughly $300 million plan known as 690 Pohukaina.

And a “vertical” elementary school that could become a model for urban Honolulu is once again part of the two-tower project.

If all goes as anticipated, the first tower could break ground in 2019 and deliver homes in 2021 for moderate-income families at rents starting at around $2,500 a month. A second tower with monthly rents as low as $1,000 for low-income households would follow.

The new track involves the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency regulating development in Kakaako, ending its effort to have 690 Pohukaina developed by Ohio-based firm Forest City Realty Trust and ceding control to an agency that helps finance affordable-housing projects.

The revised plan also calls for Forest City to transfer its role as developer to an independent offshoot of the company called Alaka‘i Development LLC, which was formed by Hawaii executives of Forest City.

Under the proposed shift, the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. would negotiate a development agreement with Alaka‘i for an initial phase with 390 residences and 600 parking stalls in one tower.

HHFDC would initiate development of a second phase with a 200-unit tower, 250 parking stalls and a four-story school for 750 students by issuing a request for proposals. There is also a possibility for the school to be part of phase one instead.

A couple of HHFDC board members raised questions about whether the site should be used for a school when nearby schools could be expanded.

Ken Masden, head of planning for DOE school development, said nine new schools — six elementary schools, 1-1/2 middle schools and 1-1/2 high schools — are needed between Kalihi and Ala Moana to accommodate dense future residential development expected to come with the rail line. He said the Pohukaina site, which was once a school, is a ripe opportunity to develop a vertical school that can be a model for others in Honolulu’s urban core.

“If we miss this opportunity and find down the road that we need it, we will regret it,” he said. “We see a real need in the near future to have an elementary school here.”

Jon Wallenstrom, an Alaka‘i principal and president of Forest City’s Hawaii operation, added that the convenience of families living next to a school will be a great benefit for 690 Pohukaina residents and others nearby.

“Just imagine the lifestyle of a family … able to go up and down the elevator to drop the kids off,” he said. “It’s a marvelous thing from a lifestyle perspective.”

DOE will pay for the school’s roughly estimated $40 million development cost.

Milo Spindt, an HHFDC board member, said he’s excited to see the 690 Pohukaina project with a school. “I think this is a great opportunity for the state to use its resources to fill both the roles of affordable housing and education in one location,” he said.

At least 60 percent of the rentals in the first tower would be reserved for local residents earning no more than 140 percent of Honolulu’s annual median income. That equates to $98,560 for a single person, $112,560 for a couple and $140,700 for a family of four. Maximum monthly rents would be $2,639 for one-bedroom units and $3,167 for two-bedroom units.

Apartments in the second tower would be reserved for residents earning no more than 60 percent of Honolulu’s annual median income. That equates to $42,240 for a single person, $48,240 for a couple and $60,300 for a family of four. Maximum monthly rents would range between $1,056 and $1,568 for studios to three-bedroom apartments.

Alaka‘i would be given a 75-year lease for the project’s first phase at $1 a year but pay a premium upfront for the appraised market value of such a lease on the land, which is owned by the Department of Land and Natural Resources but would be set aside for HHFDC.

HHFDC’s board got an overview of the plan at a meeting Thursday and is expected to make a decision at a meeting next month.

Wallenstrom told the board the project would deliver badly needed affordable housing and help address public school expansion needs in an area undergoing dense high-rise development along the city’s planned rail line.

“This is a project that we have been working on for some time,” he said. “We’re very excited to move it forward.”

Originally, the first of 690 Pohukaina’s two towers was projected to break ground in 2014, followed by the second one next year. But the plan got mired in difficulties and delays.

HCDA issued a request for proposals in 2012 to develop 2 acres of empty state land next to Mother Waldron Park with an emphasis on producing affordable housing.

However, the request asked developers to submit plans for towers as high as 650 feet, which then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie pushed for when he announced the opportunity for 690 Pohukaina in 2011. HCDA rules at the time allowed maximum 400-foot tower heights.

Forest City and Australian-based Lend Lease submitted tower proposals that they said would be viable at 400 or 650 feet.

Lend Lease proposed 1,002 for-sale condos. Forest City proposed 804 rental apartments. HCDA selected Forest City in 2013 subject to agreement on details including financial terms of a land lease.

Forest City’s bid called for 390 apartments for tenants earning no more than 120 percent of Honolulu’s median income, 390 units for tenants earning up to 140 percent of the median income and 24 luxury penthouse units.

The developer anticipated it could finalize terms and break ground in 2014 to have an initial phase open this year. But negotiations moved slowly and hit an impasse. The Legislature also passed a law in 2014 to freeze Kakaako’s building height limit at 418 feet. And then last year DOE began seeking to have an elementary school become part of the project.

Forest City embraced the school idea and revised its plan to one tower with 400 residences next to a midrise school complex. But HCDA said adding a school would be too much of a departure from its competitive proposal offering, and rejected the idea in March.

DOE’s desire and Forest City’s willingness led to the new avenue involving HHFDC. Through a spokesman, HCDA said it endorses the new plan.