The old, unassuming community of Mo'ili'ili, home to low-rise apartment buildings and little mom-and-pop stores, faces the uncertain future of urban revitalization.

Kamehameha Schools, one of the area's largest landowners, recently began taking the first steps in that direction.

As Advertiser writer Mary Vorsino reported yesterday, Kamehameha Schools plans to renovate two apartment buildings along Beretania and South King streets, installing new commercial tenants along with 28 rental apartments.

This comes on the heels of the acquisition of the Varsity Theater, Varsity Office Building and Puck's Alley.

With about two dozen other properties under its control and ambitions to upgrade them, Kamehameha Schools is well-positioned to have a significant impact on Mo'ili'ili.

How that impact will touch the people who live there remains uncertain.

Mo'ili'ili's urban location and proximity to the University of Hawai'i-Manoa make it a prime target for real-estate development that is highly profitable but may not account for that increasingly endangered breed: the low- to moderate-income apartment renter.

And there are lots of them in Mo'ili'ili. About two-thirds of the area's 25,000 residents are renters, according to the 2000 Census.

In some ways, the area is primed to resist uncontrolled development. There are few large landowners in Mo'ili'ili who can cause wholesale upheavals. The lots are small and the owners numerous, which has kept the neighborhood from changing too much.

Mo'ili'ili has a lively history and a community that takes pride in it. The mixture of students, working people and retirees has created a neighborhood unique to O'ahu.

As Kamehameha Schools draws up its plans for Mo'ili'ili's future, let's hope it considers the community's past and present as well.