The owner of Ward Centers is expected to unveil new details today about its first three residential high-rises slated to break ground next year as the initial piece of a long-term plan calling for 22 towers.

Howard Hughes Corp., a Dallas-based company that owns the 60-acre Ward Centers property in Kakaako, has applied for three tower development permits from the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency regulating development in the area.

The developer announced in October that it expected to begin tower construction in 2014 on three parcels — a parking lot makai of the Ward theater complex, a site occupied by Pier 1 Imports and an area along Ward Avenue occupied in part by Kanpai Bar and Grill.

Hughes Corp. has an approved master plan to develop up to 4,300 residential units on its property over 15 years, an approval the company inherited in 2010 when it acquired the Ward land from General Growth Properties.

The estimated $7.5 billion master plan envisions 22 towers and about twice as much retail, dining and entertainment venues than exist now at Ward Centers.