The hopeful homebuyers began showing up before sunrise to keep a vigil along the 1200 block of Kapolei's Kaiau Avenue — even though no vigil was required.

They were lured by the prospect of owning one of 118 affordable homes at the Nohona at Kapolei community, touted as one phase of an innovative private-public partnership between the state and Castle & Cooke home builders.

First in line to pick up an application packet was Lesley Masumoto of Nu'uanu, who arrived at 4:30 a.m. Jadelyn Mathias of 'Ewa showed up a half-hour later with her son and daughter. By 9:25 a.m., five minutes before the official blessing and the opening of the Nohona sales office at 91-2105 Kaiau St. began, more than 125 people were waiting patiently in the morning sunshine.

Never mind that the first person to get an application would have the same chance of getting one of the multi-family two- and three-bedroom homes as the last person to turn in an application before the 3 p.m. Aug. 31 deadline.

"I told them, 'You don't need to stand in line,' " said Donna Tomita, the sales team leader for Castle & Cooke. The sales office will be open daily with plenty of application packets, she said. The lucky few will be chosen by lottery at the Kapolei High School on Sept. 29.

Nobody budged.

Masumoto seemed to sum up the sentiments of all who followed her in the line-up:

"I'm here hoping for a chance to own my own home," she said. "It's a dream come true. It means leaving a legacy for my son. It means I'm connected to the 'aina. It means I'm not a nomad anymore. It means prosperity. It just means the whole world to me."

At 61, Masumoto said this would be her last shot at the achieving the American Dream. So she wasn't taking any chances.

Nohona at Kapolei, which is expected to be completed by mid-2008, is the first of three affordable home and rental housing developments planned for the Village of Kapolei.

"This is part of a project that encompasses 476 units," said Bruce Barrett, executive vice president for residential operations for Castle & Cooke. "... And this is really the kickoff."

Barrett said his team had no idea what to expect yesterday. But as he watched the parade of would-be homeowners come and go, Barrett was overwhelmed by the response. A total of 550 people signed up during the first hour alone.

"This just shows the incredible demand for affordable housing in the state," he said.

The three projects are part of the partnership between Hawai'i Housing Finance and Development Corporation and Castle & Cooke. The entire three-phase, $118 million project is expected to be finished by the end of 2009. Slightly more than half the 476 units will be rentals and the rest will be sold fee-simple.

All the units at Nohona at Kapolei will be fee-simple sales. And although they have yet to be priced, it's estimated that they'll run from around $325,000 to $385,000 (the high-end estimate being exactly $300,000 less than the present median price for a single-family home on O'ahu).

For its part, the state is contributing 20 acres of land and major infrastructure improvements, as well as rental tax credits and general excise tax exemptions.

Dan Davidson, executive director of HHFDC, said the total development partnership with Castle & Cooke in Kapolei "will cover a spectrum of income groups, from lower-income rentals all the way down to people earning 60 percent of the area medium to workforce housing opportunities for Hawai'i's hardworking families."

The entire Village of Kapolei effort is part of a broader, more ambitious plan by the HHFDC to expand the affordable housing market throughout the state, Davidson said.

"At our agency we're seeking, over the next five or six years, to try to bring about 5,000 new homes to the market," he said.

It can't happen soon enough for Mathias.

"I live out in 'Ewa," she said as she considered possibility of owning a Nohona home. "Right now I pay almost $2,000 a month for three bedrooms. That's just to rent.

"So, this is awesome."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.