Honolulu approved a big new hotel and luxury condo project on an Ala Moana parking lot, good news for construction and hotel workers but unlikely to fix Hawaii's housing shortage.

• The council voted unanimously for a mixed-use tower on more than 4 acres of the Ala Moana Shopping Center parking lot.
• The plan mixes hotel rooms, market-rate condos, shops, and a small number of cheaper rental units.
• Supporters point to thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of hotel jobs once it opens.
• Critics say the workers building it could not afford to live in it, and the "affordable" units are not really affordable.
• Neighbors also worry about traffic at an already busy intersection and whether local infrastructure can handle it.

Outlook: The developer now moves on to the permitting stage, with the affordability and traffic fights likely to continue.