Ward Centers is slated to become about 10 percent bigger next year.

The owner of Oahu’s third-largest shopping complex, the Howard Hughes Corp., announced plans to move ahead with an expansion of Ward Village Shops that had been delayed for several years.

The addition will add 57,000 square feet of retail space in a two-story building between a new T.J. Maxx store and long-standing Pier 1 Imports.

Construction is scheduled to start later this month, and be complete in fall 2013. Tenants will be announced in the coming months, Hughes Corp. said.

"We are pleased to move forward with this important second phase of Ward Village Shops, adding to the momentum that’s building within Oahu’s most exciting neighborhood — Kakaako," David Striph, a Hughes Corp. senior vice president, said in a statement.

The expansion adds about 10 percent more space to the 550,000-square-foot complex with more than 135 shops and restaurants plus the 16-screen movie theater.

Ward Village Shops was originally announced in 2004 as a major enlargement composed of about 200,000 square feet of two-story retail space topped by 10 levels of luxury residential rental apartments connected to a seven-story parking structure.

Whole Foods Market, the nation’s largest natural and organic grocery chain, signed on to anchor the complex and anticipated opening a 67,000-square-foot store in early 2008. But discoveries of Native Hawaiian skeletal remains, or iwi, on the site complicated and delayed construction.

Then the financial market meltdown pinched resources of Ward Centers’ then-owner, General Growth Properties, and construction on Ward Village Shops halted in late 2008.

General Growth, which is the nation’s second-largest mall owner and owner of Ala Moana Center, filed for bankruptcy in early 2009.

Construction on the parking structure and the Whole Foods building resumed in mid-2010. But Whole Foods pulled out of its lease because of the delays.

Hughes Corp. took over as owner of Ward Centers in November 2010 as part of General Growth’s bankruptcy reorganization, and has been plotting how to resume expanding its urban retail plan that includes Ward Centre, Ward Warehouse, Ward Entertainment Complex and Ward Gateway Center spread over 60 acres on four blocks.

The parking garage opened in late 2010. In May, T.J. Maxx opened a 35,000-square-foot store, occupying the top half of the former Whole Foods space. The lower half of that space is vacant.

In October, Hughes Corp. announced it had received a $250 million loan to refinance three mortgages and provide $38 million to begin redevelopment at Ward Centers.

More recently, Hughes Corp. announced that Bed Bath & Beyond will open a 30,000-square-foot store later this year at Ward Centre in the space vacated by Borders.

The expansion of Ward Village Shops follows consultation with the Oahu Island Burial Council, the state Historic Preservation Division and recognized cultural descendants of the area — all of which provide input on the treatment of iwi. Hughes Corp. reduced the impact of development on the ground, and iwi will rest in a preserve area.

The company said adding more retail next to T.J. Maxx paves the way for further redevelopment.

"This latest addition demonstrates our commitment to creating one of the premier shopping districts in Honolulu for our customers," Striph said.

Hughes Corp. has a state-approved plan allowing development of up to 4,300 residential units spread among 20 towers mixed with retail space for about 400 tenants, up from about 300 today.