From August through December, revenues at marketplace shops have increased 3.5 percent, compared with the year-earlier period, said Chad Griffith, attorney for Mitsui Trust & Banking Co.

Don James, chief financial officer of the project, said the marketplace is about 90 percent leased, up from about 70 percent in April 1995.

Mitsui yesterday gave an overview of the marketplace's recent financial performance to the state agency that oversees the project, the Aloha Tower Development Corp.

Mitsui noted that its recent attempts to sell the $60 million mortgage on the waterfront complex and ongoing litigation haven't affected the marketplaces's daily operations.

Last month, Mitsui called off its efforts to sell the mortgage to a group headed by Maui developer Everett Dowling.

The lender also is involved in a legal dispute with the project's developer, Aloha Tower Associates.

Mitsui filed a foreclosure suit last August, alleging the developers made no loan payments. Aloha Tower Associates, meanwhile, sued Mitsui in May, saying the bank reneged on $600 million in financing.

"For the past three months, things at the marketplace haven't gone that badly," Griffith said.