The deal between Intracorp San Diego and Bank of Hawaii, which owns the nearly 1-acre property overlooking Honolulu Harbor, is the second time in three years that someone has put forth a proposal to buy and develop the site at 800 Nu'uanu Ave.

A sale in early 2001 to one of the largest apartment developers in the nation, Dallas-based JPI, fell through for undisclosed reasons before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The bank, which had shelved its own plan to build an office tower on the site, has been trying for about three years to sell the property valued at $7.7 million by the city.

Intracorp President Keith Fernandez said the company is still studying the feasibility of a 22- to 24-story tower with units for sale at about $300,000 to $700,000. But given construction cost estimates, Fernandez says the plan has a 50-50 chance of being executed.

"We like the site," he said. "The market looks good. But I don't know if it can support the construction cost. It's still very early."

In the hopes of completing the deal, the company is seeking government approvals, has retained Architects Hawaii and plans to meet with neighborhood board members next month.

Intracorp San Diego is an urban residential real estate development firm spun off from Canadian resort developer Intrawest Corp., and has sister companies in Seattle, Los Angeles and Vancouver, British Columbia.

The company, Fernandez said, regularly partners with JP Morgan for financing and has developed eight or nine mid-rise to high-rise projects with units for sale under $700,000 in San Diego over the past four or five years.

Fernandez, a Punahou School graduate, has split his career between California, where he has worked for Dean Witter and his own real estate development firms, and Hawai'i, where he has worked for Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center and Moloka'i Ranch.

"Being from Hawai'i, it'd be fun to do something there," he said. "The opportunities there are appealing."

If it moves forward, the Intracorp project would be one of several residential high-rises in the planning stages, including a nearly sold-out luxury Hokua condo scheduled for construction soon in Kaka'ako by a local partnership between The MacNaughton Group and The Kobayashi Group. Also in Kaka'ako, Miami-based luxury condo developer Crescent Heights is planning a project, as is Alexander & Baldwin in Waikiki.

A couple other condo high-rise plans for Honolulu are in preliminary stages, but Intracorp's is the only disclosed residential condo planned downtown.

Bank of Hawaii has owned the site since 1972 when it bought a newly renovated five-story building. In 1996, the bank said it planned to build an office tower when the market improved, and demolished the 100,000-square-foot "annex" in 1998.

But downsizing at the bank eliminated the need for more space. The bank, which has used the site as a 90-space parking lot for employees, has been trying to sell the site since late 2000.