The exterior of a former Macy’s department store in Kailua will start to look a lot different this year as the space undergoes conversion into a collection of shops and restaurants including a restaurant by local chef Roy Yamaguchi and a Maui Brewing Co. brewpub.

Local real estate investment and development firm Alexander & Baldwin Inc., which owns the 59,000-square-foot space, announced Monday that major construction on the planned $21 million project called Lau Hala Shops should begin by Friday. The work should be finished by the end of the year, with initial tenants opening early next year.

Macy’s closed its store in March. A&B, which began some interior work last year, plans to turn the space into a two-story complex with 48,400 square feet of leasable area divided into 10 spaces ranging from 1,300 to 20,000 square feet.

Besides the two restaurants, other tenants will include a Down to Earth natural foods store that will relocate from its existing space on Hamakua Drive, and a Harley-Davidson apparel and accessories retail store.