The new Army Hawai'i Family Housing project effectively addressed a critical need for affordable housing rentals through a public-private partnership that could hold some lessons for the state.

By partnering with private developers, the Army hopes to meet its massive long-term housing need with what's being called the largest privatized community in U.S. military history. The $2.33 billion project means nearly 5,400 new rental homes and renovations to more than 2,500 existing homes over the next 10 years on O'ahu.

Actus Lend Lease, a California-based private developer, will both build and manage the dwellings, with its compensation primarily coming from the generous housing allowances given to military families.

Families moving in last week praised the development as an upgrade to military housing of the past. And with more families choosing to spend their subsidies there, competition in the local rental market will ease.

But an even larger benefit may lie in adapting key parts of the military's approach. For example, the military created a streamlined process, from permitting to construction. That enabled the partnerships driven by the pressing need to provide affordable housing for troops in perpetuity.

The state should shoot for similar goals, working particularly with nonprofits committed to affordable housing in perpetuity — not just in the short term.

The recent omnibus housing legislation, which has beefed up the state's Rental Housing Trust Fund, should make working with nonprofits more viable with larger subsidies for development.

But the key to the military project's success is keeping real estate speculation in check. As a large landowner with an affordable-housing problem, the military simply dedicated its land to meet that need. The state should explore a similar tack to create affordable housing in the public interest.

Affordable-housing advocates in other pricey real estate markets have used the idea of forming land trusts, or "land banking," in conjunction with state and local governments to create a lasting reserve of both affordable rentals and homes.

At this point in our housing crisis, all avenues should be explored.

As the military housing example shows, the goal of affordability in Hawai'i is not an unattainable dream.