Three formerly homeless families from the Waianae Coast received keys to new homes Monday as the city continues to work to reduce the nation’s largest per capita rate of homelessness.

The city Monday officially opened Kauhale Kamaile, a 16-unit modular housing project along Farrington Highway next to Maluhia Lutheran Church in Waianae. Kauhale Kamaile is designed to provide permanent homes for homeless families and individuals who earn 50 percent of area median income.

Rent is $981 for a one-bedroom unit and $1,177 for a two-bedroom unit.

The city spent $300,000 for the overgrown, 1.1-acre lot in 2016 and turned it into modular housing that the city said costs much less than a similar bricks-and-mortar structure while reducing the building timetable by nearly 50 percent.

The project cost $5 million and will be managed by ASI Hawai‘i, which does not receive a city subsidy for the project, according to the city.

Receiving their keys from Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Monday were a family of four, a family of six and a family of eight.

All had once been homeless along the Leeward Coast.