The Polynesian Cultural Center, more than an hour’s drive from Waikiki, has long relied on its re-created island villages, luau and evening musical extravaganza to lure visitors to the North Shore.

But now PCC plans to target tourists driving around the island, as well as locals, with a 119,000-square-foot marketplace that represents the most ambitious expansion project in its 50-year history.

The Hukilau Marketplace, part of the center’s ongoing 10-year, $100 million-plus renovation, is scheduled to open in January and offer retail, dining and entertainment to patrons without having to pay to enter the park.

The marketplace will result in the addition of 170 positions.

"This is a really huge undertaking for the Polynesian Cultural Center," said Alfred Grace, president and chief executive officer of PCC. "It really is the first time that we have reached out to the public with an offering that does not require an admission ticket and that will provide guests with a short-term experience at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Everything prior to that has been based on guests — visitors and locals alike — spending a full day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. So for the people driving around the island or looking for something to do for a couple of hours, this is an entirely new offering."

The Hukilau Marketplace is being built in the center’s existing parking lot and the nonparking space that was underused by the Pacific Theater. The marketplace will offer parking in a short-term lot free with validation or for those with a PCC annual pass.

The marketplace will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and will include Pounder’s Restaurant, which initially will serve lunch and dinner and eventually breakfast. Menu items, which are being overseen by North Shore resident and chef Hector Morales, will include steak, seafood, pizza, island-style salads and Hawaiian-style food.

There also will be a Polynesian bakery; Laie General Store, offering souvenirs and convenience items; Hapa Home Store, which will feature specialty home accessories and lifestyle products; Roulotte Court, which will offer Tahiti-inspired "street eats" via food trucks; a confection store with chocolate, cookies and candy; food and retail kiosks and carts; and free local entertainment.

In addition, PCC is finalizing vendor contracts for an ukulele shop, high-end Hawaiian jewelry, ocean sports and bicycle sales and rentals, specialty burgers, ice cream, a lunch wagon and a shrimp truck.

The 22,800 square feet of new retail space is more than twice as large as the 11,000 square feet of retail space that existed in an old marketplace demolished in May 2013. Construction on the new marketplace began in October.

Despite the marketplace encroaching into the parking lot, PCC said it will have 52 additional stalls, or 781 total, after construction by converting some bus parking into car parking and reconfiguring the remaining bus area.

Attendance at the cultural center has been flat so far this year, and revenue has been down, but center officials are hoping the marketplace will significantly expand the PCC revenue base beyond ticket sales as well as attract additional visitors.

"We think that there’s some great opportunities falling into place for the Polynesian Cultural Center and this community to be more self-sustaining," Grace said. "We haven’t really ever been able to take advantage of the drive-by traffic that we have on Kamehameha Highway. With the marketplace and the (new) hotels (being built), the growth rates at the PCC actually will increase going forward rather than diminish as they have in recent years."

Attendance this year through Wednesday was virtually flat at 321,656 compared with the year-earlier period after slipping 3.3 percent to 695,328 in 2013 from 718,847 in 2012. Revenue was off year to date through May by more than 8 percent at $24.9 million compared with $27.2 million in the year-earlier period. In 2013 revenue was up about 3 percent to $65.4 million from $63.5 million in 2012.

The Hukilau Marketplace should get a boost from the new Courtyard by Marriott hotel that is being built adjacent to the complex in Laie and is scheduled to open in mid-2015. The hotel, which will have 140 rooms in its first phase with an option to increase that number to 222, will replace the 49-room Laie Inn, which was demolished in 2009.

Turtle Bay Resort also has plans to develop two hotels — for either hotel or time-share use — with a combined 625 rooms, and estimates construction on the first hotel could start in about two years.

Grace said he expects PCC will get "a healthy return" on its marketplace investment, which he said represents "a substantial amount" of the $100 million renovation.

"We are confident we will see a reasonable return on our investment from this marketplace based on all the projections that we’ve done and the projections that Colliers Hawaii did," Grace said. "They also did an analysis of drive-by traffic and people who would stop and go to the PCC. We used some fairly conservative estimates to come up with some initial return on investment forecasts."

Eric Workman, executive vice president of development, sales and marketing for PCC, said center officials are hoping the marketplace will encourage people traveling from Waikiki to make the entire loop around the island rather than turn around after visiting Haleiwa.

"We want to encourage them to continue that loop instead of ending it on the North Shore," Workman said. "This is one of the most beautiful stretches in the world between the PCC and the Kaneohe area, and you can almost hold your hand out the window and touch the ocean. We want to give them another reason to continue that loop.

"Also, there’s a significant need for clean, safe restrooms on the North Shore, and that’s one of the reasons Dole (Plantation) is so popular. We have restrooms here that service 2,700 people in our theater during a 10-minute intermission that we have sitting idle all day. That was part of the investment where we actually demolished the restrooms by the theater and integrated those so it’s part of the marketplace."

The nonprofit PCC, which was founded Oct. 12, 1963, has had a close relationship since its inception with Brigham Young University-Hawaii, a private university with about 2,700 students owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. PCC’s mission is to provide financial support to BYU-Hawaii students. Grace said about 700 of the current PCC workforce of nearly 1,200 are BYU-Hawaii students, and the new hires also will include university students.

"The direction we were given by our church leaders was to prepare the Polynesian Cultural Center for the next 50 years," Grace said. "They’ve also given direction for BYU-Hawaii to increase the number of students. They have to grow their student body, and the Polynesian Cultural Center needs to continue to support those students by providing more jobs and experience opportunities for them as well as the community."

PCC, which attracted more than 37 million visitors during its first half-century, encompasses 42 acres and includes a canoe tour through the park and six re-created island villages from Hawaii, Samoa, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti and Tonga, plus island exhibits for the Marquesas and Rapa Nui (Easter Island). There’s also a Gateway Restaurant that seats 1,100 people and offers two dinner buffets.

In addition, PCC has a 2,700-seat amphitheater showcasing "Ha: Breath of Life."

Grace said even though the park’s renovation will go on for about five more years with improvements to some of the villages and infrastructure, the heavy lifting has been done.

"There have been three major developments at the Polynesian Cultural Center (during its history)," Grace said. "One was when we first opened. The second happened in the mid-’70s when the new theater and restaurant and main entry building were added. And now, in 2015, with the opening of this marketplace. They are the three major building events at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

"As far as an impact in who we are, we always considered our core products the islands of Polynesia, the evening show, our luaus, and now we add this marketplace as a fourth component of the Polynesian experience. What’s exciting about this marketplace is its connection to the community and the people of Laie because it’s basically sharing their story and history. And while many areas are developing similar experiences, I think the thing that makes this marketplace unique is it tells the story of our community and the significant influence of Polynesia that is felt in this community."