The Queen Emma Foundation planned to raze the 48-year-old complex this summer to make way for a 230,000 square-foot retail and entertainment center. Mark Hastert, Queen Emma's president and chief executive officer, said the foundation put the project on hold as it conducted an evaluation.

Hastert declined to discuss the options that are being considered but said the foundation's board will make a decision next month.

The nonprofit Queen Emma Foundation, a unit of the Queen's Health System, announced the project in September 2003 and had planned to complete it by late 2007. The development was to include open air theaters, a boardwalk and several retail kiosks.

The marketplace re-development was part of a plan to reinvigorate the foundation's Waikiki properties, which include the 4.5 acre market place and 14 acres of nearby land.