The Office of Hawaiian Affairs — which last year considered and rejected a plan to buy television station KGMB and the land beneath it — is now expressing an interest in buying just the land.

OHA trustee Oswald Stender said OHA staffers have held talks with Virginia-based HITV Operating Co. about acquiring KGMB's 41,000-square-foot parcel on Kapi'olani Boulevard.

HITV, a unit of MCG Capital Corp. of Arlington, Va., agreed to purchase local CBS affiliate KGMB in February from Emmis Communications Corp. of Indianapolis, in a deal valued at $40 million.

The sale is expected to close by July.

Under the plan, OHA would lease back the KGMB property across from Ala Moana Center to HITV for three to five years, Stender said.

HITV plans to eventually relocate to more modern facilities elsewhere on O'ahu, and that would free OHA to redevelop the property or sell it.

"We're just interested in the land because we think it has potential," said Stender.

HITV had no immediate comment.

Stender declined to talk about a possible price for the proposed land deal, but based on recent commercial real estate sales in the area the property could fetch anywhere from $10 million to $15 million.

Stender stressed that both sides are still at an early stage of discussion and that any final agreement would have to be taken to OHA's board for vote.

The plan will likely face stiff opposition from OHA's board.

OHA trustees last July voted down a Stender-led plan to acquire KGMB and its land from Emmis, citing financial risks.

OHA's full board rejected a second proposal to buy the local CBS affiliate with former U.S. Rep. Cec Heftel, who previously owned KGMB.

Founded in 1978, OHA is a quasi-state agency whose mission is to help Native Hawaiians.

It receives revenue from ceded lands — those lands that were controlled by the crown and government when the Hawaiian kingdom was overthrown in 1893. That revenue will be $15 million this fiscal year.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.