"We want to start construction no later than Dec. 1," said D. Scott MacKinnon, attorney for the developers of the 404 Piikoi project.

MacKinnon briefed the state's Hawaii Community Development Authority board on Wednesday on the modified plan by GYA Architects Inc. for the 46-story condominium complex once planned as a luxury project.

No contractor has been signed yet but MacKinnon estimated construction costs at about $110 million. The new project is called "Hawaiki Tower," which means "next island," he said.

The old plans called for 365 units, with 10 condos per floor, but the new design calls for 432 units, with 11 per floor. The building also will include eight office condominiums and 30,000 square feet of commercial space.

Prices for 46 one-bedroom units will start at about $225,000. All together, about 125 units will be priced under $400,000 but most of the project will be devoted to two-bedroom units with about 1,100 square feet and priced between $400,000 and $600,000.

Under state requirements, 50 percent of the units must be offered first to owners who will live in the condo but the developers plan to offer 90 percent to owner-occupants, said Karl Heyer IV, a vice president at McCormack Properties Ltd., the project's sales agent. The rest can be offered to investors. Pre-sales for the owner-occupants will begin in July.

MacKinnon said that extra pile work will be done in October and that the project is scheduled to be completed in mid-1999.

The 404 Piikoi project, on 17.5 acres on Ala Moana and Piikoi streets, is approved for 1,400 units in four phases.

Nauru Tower, with 304 units, was developed in the late 1980s as the first phase. The second phase, a 282-unit project at 1133 Waimanu St. to meet the state's affordable housing requirements, will be completed by July. Nauru halted construction in the third phase three years ago after the local real estate market went soft.

MacKinnon said that by adding more units to the next project, the developers will cut down on the size of the remaining phase in order to keep within the 1,400-unit limitation. Changes to the 404 Piikoi master plan still need HCDA board approval.

Nauru Phosphate Royalties is taking a chance that the dormant condominium market will come to life, but Heyer is confident that they will sell.

"We feel that condominiums under $600,000 will be absorbed quickly (by the marketplace)," Heyer said.

Nauru Phosphate Royalties is a Melbourne, Australia-based trust set up to make prudent investments for the Republic of Nauru, a island-nation in the Western Pacific just south of the equator.

The island of eight square miles has huge deposits of bird droppings that are high in phosphates. Nauru has made billions of dollars selling phosphates, which are used as fertilizer.

In 1984, the trust paid $43 million to Dillingham Corp. for the 17.5 Kakaako acres.