A California developer is betting that demand for Hawai'i luxury condominiums is still strong enough to go forward with a previously planned tower in Kaka'ako that was dropped by another developer.

Woodridge Capital LLC is proposing to build a 400-foot-tall condo with 295 units on a site between existing luxury high-rises Hawaiki Tower and Ko'olani just 'ewa of Ala Moana Center, plus a mid-rise building with 64 moderate-priced units on a nearby parcel.

The Los Angeles-based company hopes to start construction late next year and complete work in 2010.

"We're excited about this project," said Dan Nishikawa, a principal with Woodridge affiliate K2 Investors LLC proposing the development. "We like our timing in the market."

The plan is the latest expression of confidence that the market for luxury high-rise condos in urban Honolulu hasn't lost too much momentum amid O'ahu's broader housing sector where sales of existing homes have declined since 2005 and prices this year have leveled off.

In June, South Korean firm Sam House Development LLC bought a vacant lot on Kapi'olani Boulevard fronting Ala Moana Center for $26 million with plans to develop a luxury condo up to 250 feet high, though that developer has not announced a timetable.

While the Woodridge and Sam House plans potentially will extend a four-year boom in Honolulu residential high-rise construction, there have been signs that demand is weakening.

SPACE AVAILABLE

About two weeks ago, the 909 Kapiolani tower at the corner of Ward Avenue and Kapi'olani Boulevard opened with 76 percent of its 227 units sold — a result regarded as a success by industry standards, though it fell considerably short of four other Kaka'ako towers that were completely or nearly sold out upon completion in the past two years.

Besides the Sam House and Wood-ridge projects, two other towers are under construction in Kaka'ako — Keola La'i on South Street and Moana Vista just diamondhead of 909 Kapi'olani.

Woodridge is a firm headed by Michael Rosenfeld, a developer of a variety of large-scale real estate projects on the Mainland and Canada over the past 20 years. The company also is involved in the planned 1,400-home community on Maui formerly known as Wailea 670 and now known as Honua'ula.

Woodridge bought its Kaka'ako property in January from Miami-based developer Crescent Heights, which had planned to build a tower on the site called Ko'olua. But Crescent decided against the project, and sold the 5.2-acre site to Woodridge for what property records show was $22.75 million.

Nishikawa said he believes his firm's timing and site are prime.

The Woodridge property is part of a 17-acre parcel once referred to as 404 Pi'ikoi that a state agency approved in 1984 for five towers.

The site was developed initially by an investment trust of the South Pacific republic of Nauru, which built the luxury Nauru Tower in 1991 followed by the moderate-priced tower 1133 Waimanu in 1996.

CONSTRUCTION STALLED

Nauru Phosphate Royalties (Honolulu) Development Inc. also had begun building Hawaiki Tower in 1993, but Hawai'i's real estate downturn of the mid-1990s stalled tower construction.

When Hawaiki was completed in 1999, only 43 percent of its units were sold.

In 2003, Crescent bought the remaining two tower sites after financial difficulties forced Nauru to sell the property, and Crescent completed Ko'olani in March 2006.

Last week, Woodridge presented its plan to the state Hawai'i Community Development Authority, the agency governing redevelopment in Kaka'ako.

Under existing permits, Woodridge can build a 400-foot tower with 263 units, including 45 at moderate-prices under an agency rule. Woodridge, however, is seeking to build the tower with 295 units, and provide 64 moderate-priced units in a separate building on nearby land it has arranged to buy.

The company also would pay $2 million toward construction of a planned Queen Street public park as part of the deal to increase the number of units it could build.

The high-rise's permitted size would not increase.

Teney Takahashi, HCDA interim executive director, said the agency's initial reaction to the proposal is favorable because more moderate-priced units would be produced. However, the proposal will be subject to a public hearing and a decision from the agency's board in the coming months for Woodridge to move forward.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.