A third attempt is underway in as many decades to produce roughly 2,000 homes in Central Oahu at the long-stalled second phase of Royal Kunia.

Haseko, the Japanese- based developer of the master-planned residential and resort communities Ocean Pointe and Hoakalei in Ewa Beach, recently acquired 211 acres of undeveloped land intended for homes at Royal Kunia II.

The company plans to develop about 1,850 homes on the site, starting with 300 mostly lower- to moderate- priced housing units.

“Even with the challenging economic times, we think there’s always going to be a market for homes,” said Sharene Saito Tam, a Haseko vice president.

Tam said it could be two to three years before construction begins to rise on the site.

“We’re still working through all the details and obligations,” she said.

Haseko’s effort represents the third time a developer has laid out a conceptual plan and development timetable for the second phase of Royal Kunia, and, like previous times, major challenges lie ahead.

Royal Kunia was initially conceived in the 1980s by the prolific late local developer Herbert Horita as an extension of his Village Park subdivision.

Horita, whose work included starting Ko Olina resort, completed the resid­en­- tial portion of Royal Kunia’s initial phase in partnership with Castle &Cooke Hawaii to deliver 1,929 homes along with one of two planned golf courses on land that was once part of Oahu Sugar Co. plantation operations.

The second phase included even more elements: another roughly 2,000 homes, an 18-hole golf course, a 123-acre light- industrial park for retail and other commercial enterprises, a 150-acre agricultural park for the state, a 10-acre public park and an elementary school.

Construction on the estimated $295 million second phase on 655 acres was expected to break ground in 1994 and finish in 2006.

But two financial downfalls ensued for Horita, and plans have been largely idle for nearly 30 years.

In the first debacle, Horita’s Halekua Development Corp. filed for bankruptcy in 2003 after it couldn’t pay debts exceeding $40 million after years of financial strain related to Royal Kunia’s first phase.

Halekua emerged from bankruptcy in 2007 after Horita managed to arrange $98 million in new financing that allowed him to retain ownership of the biggest piece of residential land at Royal Kunia II and proceed with construction that included an estimated $60 million in off-site infrastructure.

Under Horita’s revised plan, the 2,000 homes were to be consolidated on a 161-acre site he retained and on an adjacent 50 acres fronting Kunia Road conveyed to an affiliate of the Harry &Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, an organization that helped finance Royal Kunia and became a creditor in Halekua’s bankruptcy.

Horita anticipated starting construction in 2008 and finishing initial homes as early as 2010, but that plan was derailed by financial problems encountered by one of Horita’s new lenders, California Mortgage and Realty Inc.

California Mortgage’s trouble in the wake of the 2008 financial market meltdown and recession left Horita with insufficient capital to move ahead with Royal Kunia II, and his other lender, an affiliate of California-based Canyon Capital, foreclosed on the 161 acres in 2009.

Three years ago a company connected with local engineering firm R.M. Towill Corp. bought the property from Canyon for $10.2 million. Then in August, Ha­seko bought the site for $20 million and paid another $18 million for the adjacent 50 acres, according to property records.

Other pieces of the original Royal Kunia II master plan are owned by other entities, which presents challenges for Haseko.

One major issue is that drainage plans for Royal Kunia II include a planned stormwater storage basin on a site initially intended as a golf course, and later homes, under versions of Horita’s plan.

This parcel is owned by the Robinson Estate, a major Kunia landowner that has arranged for a South Korean company to develop a solar farm on the site under a lease.

Another issue is that state land-use approvals for Royal Kunia II required infrastructure improvements that include widening Kunia Road and delivering a waterline to the agricultural park site now owned by the state.

In filings with the state Land Use Commission, Haseko has raised the issue of who is responsible for making good on such conditions given that the former golf course site was part of Royal Kunia II. Additionally, the industrial park site has a separate owner.

Stanford Carr, a local developer who tried to acquire Royal Kunia II lands amid Halekua’s bankruptcy and later helped Canyon amend county zoning and state land-use approvals for the project, said Haseko has a good opportunity to realize much of what was envisioned by Horita, who died in 2010 at age 80.

“It’s been dormant for so many years now,” he said. “It’s a much-needed community.”