They started lining up at 1 p.m. Friday for a chance to buy an affordable housing unit at the Country Club Village 6 high-rise project in Salt Lake.

By the time the sales office opened at 10 a.m. yesterday, more than 500 prospective buyers were in the line that snaked from Ala Makahala Place up to Ala Napunani Street and then makai nearly to Likini Street.

"Housing's crazy," said one of those waiting, Raymond Almeida.

"I've been here since 1 a.m. Saturday morning. You do what you've got to do for a chance at something you can afford to buy," Almeida said.

Almeida took turns holding a spot in line with his fiancee, Taryn Aname.

Almeida said he has been looking for a house to buy for "quite some time," and is living for the time being with his mother, Hina Almeida, who was also waiting in line yesterday morning.

One of the earliest arrivals, Shelly Ah Nee, split time in the line with her husband and her sister, beginning at 7 p.m. Friday.

They were in the first group of 25 admitted into the sales office when the gate finally opened.

Ah Nee, a nursing mother, was overcome by the heat and treated first by a Honolulu Fire Department crew and then taken to a hospital by a city emergency services team.

"I think she's fine," said her sister, Suzette Santos. "It's just that it's so hot and it was such a long wait."

Santos said she and her sister live in the area and like it.

"We'd like to find something we can afford and keep our kids in the same schools," she said.

The 17-story tower will contain 269 units priced from $218,000 to $397,500.

Project construction is set to begin in November and be complete by March 2009.

"We're appreciative of all the interest in the project," said Vito Galati, one of the development partners, yesterday.

"I'm not sure we anticipated it would be as attractive as it has turned out to be," Galati said.

"We developed a two-step process that was intended to eliminate lines and waiting but it doesn't appear to have worked out that way," he said.

The process required interested buyers to place a refundable $2,000 deposit with the developers, and then within 45 days decide on the unit they would like to buy and obtain a loan commitment for the purchase price, Galati said.

"The award of the unit would be made according to the reservation number they receive when they make the deposit," Galati said.

One-bedroom units are priced from $218,000 to $283,000 and two-bedrooms from $321,000 to $397,500.

The developer is Salt Lake 6 LLC, whose partners include Galati, Marshall Hung and Ken Matsuura.

The company purchased the project site earlier this month from the corporate successor of Schuler Homes, which developed the existing group of mid- and high-rise condominiums in Country Club Village.

The new developer added 110 units and an extra story to Schuler's original plans for a 16-story residential tower.

Some area residents expressed concerns about the project's impact on traffic, particularly at the traffic-calming circle at Ala Napunani and Likini Streets.

City officials said the slightly expanded project was still within limits set by existing permits.

"We are trying to provide housing that is affordable to residents who are working," said Galati. "We are targeting the resident market instead of the luxury offshore market."

Under state law, at least half of the units in the project must be offered to owner-occupants, but Galati said the developers are aiming for a higher percentage of sales to owner-occupants.

The sales agent for the project is Marcus & Associates.

Sales information is available at 781-8037 and www.countryclubvillage6.com.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.