St. Francis Healthcare Foundation's plan to build 125 market-prices homes at a $100 million senior affordable housing project in 'Ewa is raising the ire of one state lawmaker.

But St. Francis said it needs to build market-priced homes to offset its soaring construction costs.

Rep. Rida Cabanilla D-42 (Waipahu, Honouliuli, West Loch, 'Ewa) introduced a resolution last week seeking to force St. Francis to stick to its original plan of building 325 low-cost rental units for seniors at its Franciscan Vistas Ewa project.

"If this developer can get away with this, then this will become a standard in Hawai'i where other developers will want to reduce the number of affordable units they have to build," said Cabanilla.

The Franciscan Vistas Ewa complex initially was conceived in 2003 as a model affordable and assisted-living community for 'Ewa Villages-area seniors, who would pay as little as $400 a month in rent.

The 23-acre project initially was financed by a $3.5 million grant from the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and about $2 million in federal community block grant money.

The grants require that 51 percent of the units be rented out to low-income tenants, but St. Francis' initial plan called for the entire project to be at affordable rents.

Construction of the project was supposed to start in 2004 and be completed last year. Construction is now scheduled to start this year and be completed in early 2008.

Pam Witty-Oakland, executive director of the foundation's St. Francis Residential Care Community subsidiary, said the project had to be redesigned after construction costs soared by more than 30 percent during the past several years.

Witty-Oakland said nearly two-thirds of the project will remain affordable, which is well above the 51 percent required under the grants from the federal government and the Weinberg Foundation.

"We've tried other ways, but the business model didn't work unless we did this," Witty-Oakland said.

Cabanilla, meanwhile, said she doesn't want to see the elderly in the 'Ewa community shortchanged, especially because federal subsidies helped pave the way for the project.

"People have been standing by waiting for this project to happen for a long time," Cabanilla said.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.