The unremarkable Makiki apartment building where President Obama grew up could become a national landmark.

State lawmakers voted yesterday to advance a resolution that would start the process of putting the 12-story, 1960s-era rectangular building on the National Register of Historic Places.

No Mount Vernon, the building is the first childhood home of a U.S. president that's a high-rise rental.

"It's very unique that the president of the United States grew up in a modest high-rise apartment building in Honolulu," said Renton Nip, chairman of the board of the Emma Kwock Chun Corp., which owns the Punahou Circle apartments at the corner of Beretania and Punahou streets, across from Central Union Church. "With his modest upbringing, he has achieved so much. It's terrific."

The building's owners haven't decided on the best way to recognize Obama's former residence, Nip said.

Obama was born in Honolulu and lived in the two-bedroom 10th-floor apartment from 1971 to 1979, when he graduated from nearby Punahou School.

His grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, rented a unit in the building for 41 years until she died just before Obama was elected president last year.

"By placing this on the register, we get to talk about how Hawai'i and its places shaped the character and the philosophy of this unique resident," said Kiersten Faulkner, executive director of the Historic Hawaii Foundation.

Placing a site on the National Register of Historic Places is mostly a recognition of its significance without many obligations. The listing comes with investment tax credits and does not limit property rights.

Tourists aren't allowed inside to see the apartment itself. They'll have to look at the building from tour buses roaming Honolulu's streets.

"With all due respect, there's a level of pride we can have in having a native son being the president, but I think even the president would say there are more pressing things we have to focus on," Adam DeGuire, executive director of the Hawai'i Republican Party, told The Associated Press.

Properties applying for listing in the National Register are considered by a professional review board and judged based on their age and significance. The program is administered by the National Park Service.

The resolution asking for various agencies to apply for the historic landmark designation was passed by the House Tourism, Culture and International Affairs Committee. It still must go before other committees, and pass both the state House and Senate, to be adopted.