T.J. Maxx, the national discount retailer, will fill the second floor of the Ward Village Shops, and Ward Centers will get a $3 million face lift as the property owner studies plans for a major redevelopment of Kakaako.

Howard Hughes Corp., which owns Ward Centers and 60 acres of prime Kakaako land, announced today that it has secured a $250 million loan to help kick-start development of the area.

A master plan, approved by the state in 2009, called for adding 20 residential towers with 4,300 units, 100 new retail tenants, five acres of pedestrian plazas, 700,000 square feet of industrial space and a station for the city’s mass-transit project.

"This is the restart for the development," Hughes Corp. President Grant Herlitz said after announcing the loan. "This is what could be the economic growth engine in Honolulu for the next decade."

Herlitz left some doubt as to whether his company will stick to the original plan or alter it. The plan was designed by the previous owner, General Growth Properties. But the fact that it has received all the needed permits makes it attractive, Herlitz said.

"With the entitlements we have, we’re very much looking forward to beginning that master plan," Herlitz said. "Victoria Ward is one of our most important assets. … Not often can you own 60 acres of fee-simple land in Honolulu."

As the Hughes Corp. considers where to go with the master plan, it is moving forward with filling existing space.

T.J. Maxx, marking its re-entrance into the Hawaii market after 15 years, is scheduled to open a 35,000-square-foot store in April on the second floor of the two-story complex on Auahi Street previously leased to Whole Foods Market and adjacent to a new 732-stall parking garage.

Ward Centers also has restarted leasing negotiations for the ground-floor space with Whole Foods, a Texas-based natural foods chain, and other retailers. Whole Foods was envisioned as the anchor tenant before pulling out of the project in 2009 after delays tied to General Growth’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Activity at Ward Centers has been mostly on hold since General Growth ran into financial troubles and spun off the Hughes Corp. along with the Kakaako property.

"It’s kind of like a needed shot in the arm for that development to restart itself; it’s been fallow for quite a while," said Mike Hamasu, director of consulting and research at Colliers Monroe Friedlander Inc. "It would help re-energize that area. Once you have new tenants moving in, it’s likely to motivate additional tenants to consider the location."

"Any new tenants that come to Ward is great; it brings more life into the center," added Tanna Dang, owner of The Wedding Cafe and Eden in Love in Ward Warehouse. "Whether they’re going to give it a new look or bring in new tenants, it opens up more opportunities for small businesses like ours to cross-promote with larger companies that we may not have had the opportunity to work with."

The $250 million loan, which will refinance three mortgages, includes $38 million to begin redevelopment of the area.

Hughes Corp. isn’t ready to spell out its plans.

"We are really just trying to understand the market and understand the plan," said David Striph, Hughes Corp. senior vice president for Hawaii. "We’re really taking our time to study our options and make sure what we do is right for the community."

For now, Hughes will begin a $3 million renovation of existing Ward retail fronts by year’s end with construction expected to be completed by the end of the 2012 first quarter, he said.

Ward Centers comprises Ward Centre, Ward Warehouse, Ward Gateway Center, Ward Entertainment Complex and Ward Village Shops. It totals 550,000 square feet with more than 135 shops and restaurants plus the 16-screen movie theater.

"It’s an exciting redevelopment — no one had really placed a lot of focus on this asset where it was before," Herlitz said. "To me it’s an unprecedented opportunity to have a redevelopment of such caliber and size of Victoria Ward, and for that reason we’re committed to Hawaii."

Wells Fargo was the lead lender on the $250 million loan, which was also funded by a syndicate of banks including First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii, American Savings Bank and Central Pacific Bank. Randy Fleisher of Quadrant Realty Finance arranged the financing.