The property bordered by South, Queen, Kawaiaha'o and Emily streets is being offered for a minimum price of $12 million, and is expected to generate competing bids from developers.

Unfortunate market timing doomed previous plans for a high-rise called Queen Emmalani Tower on the site. The 46-story tower was proposed by a subsidiary of Japan-based Motoi Kosan, which bought the block in 1989 near the height of the Japanese investment bubble. But in 1992, during construction of the tower's foundation, the speculative real estate bubble popped and the project was stopped.

Motoi Kosan has leased the property to a parking lot operator, but has not been able to repay a mortgage that had ballooned to roughly $80 million as of early last year when the holder of the mortgage, Japan-based trading firm Mitsui Norin Co., filed a lawsuit to foreclose on the property and sell it.

A mediator was appointed in May to help resolve the dispute out of court, and a settlement is expected as early as this month, with a sale anticipated to be completed shortly thereafter.