Some major green space for public use will be added sooner than intended to the urban high-rise landscape at Ward Village in Kakaako where several condominium towers with blue or gray glass walls are rising.

The developer of the master-planned community announced Thursday that it will move forward by the end of this year with demolishing several warehouse buildings to comply with an order issued by a state board two months ago.

Howard Hughes Corp. said tenants including Marukai Market Place and Real a Gastropub will have to close by December to make way for what will largely be a 3-acre grass lawn.

The plaza will be a public gathering space and new home for Ward Village’s community events including a farmers market, group yoga, outdoor movies, live entertainment and a holiday ice rink.

“We look forward to introducing the central plaza to the community and providing an exciting new gathering place in the heart of Honolulu,” Todd Apo, vice president of community development for Ward Village, said in a statement.

The lawn is a temporary solution until a more elaborate central public plaza is developed with a major water body, landscaping, trees and other features integrated with stores and restaurants on the lower levels of future adjacent towers.

“The larger plan that incorporates adjacent development with retail and dining facilities that will surround the plaza is still part of the long-term plan to bring to Ward Village,” Apo said in an interview.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency that regulates development in Kakaako, decided in January to require that the central plaza, which Hughes Corp. committed to build in its “initial” phase, be created within two years or before the developer’s planned seventh condo tower, named ‘A‘ali‘i, can be occupied. The board’s decision was made in conjunction with approving a development permit for ‘A‘ali‘i mauka of the central plaza site.

Texas-based Hughes Corp. argued against building the plaza within the next two years. The company wanted to wait and build a more elaborate plaza in conjunction with construction of adjacent towers.

The developer, which could have appealed HCDA’s decision in state court, said the two-year deadline would allow only for the demolition of buildings and the clearing of the area for temporary open space with no features or amenities that enhance the experience for the community.

“Surely, it could not have been the intent of HCDA to obtain a central plaza that is simply a grassed area,” Hughes Corp. said in its objection filed by attorneys with local law firm Watanabe Ing LLP.

With Thursday’s announcement, Hughes Corp. was saying it will no longer fight the HCDA’s decision to require the plaza be built within two years.

It wasn’t clear Thursday where the displaced tenants will go.

A manager at Real a Gastropub said the craft beer bar and restaurant is looking to relocate, preferably in the area, and had been anticipating the need to move given development plans. A representative of Marukai, a retailer of Japanese food and merchandise, was not available for immediate comment Thursday.

Hughes Corp. also announced that a low-rise office building called Ward Plaza at the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Ward Avenue — home to the RevoluSun clean-energy company — will be demolished by the end of this year because of increased expenses to maintain the building. Hughes Corp. had envisioned developing a 500-unit residential project on this site in 2020 but said Thursday that detailed timing for this project is not yet determined.

The developer has a master plan to develop what it envisions will be 16 towers with up to 4,300 residences and 1 million square feet of retail space on 60 acres formerly known as Ward Centers.

To date, one tower, called Waiea, has been completed, and three more — Anaha, Ae‘o and Ke Kilohana — are under construction. Three other towers — ‘A‘ali‘i and two that share the name Gateway — have been permitted but have yet to break ground. The Gateway towers will replace much of Ward Warehouse, which Hughes Corp. said last month would close in August and displace roughly 60 tenants.

HCDA calculated that all the permitted or completed projects at Ward Village represent 44 percent of building density allowed under the developer’s master plan.