The owner of Ward Centers unveiled new details today about its first three residential high-rises slated to break ground next year as a first phase 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, said the three towers will have a total of about 900 condominium units and cost about $1 billion.

About 9,000 direct and indirect jobs would be created by the project, the company estimated.

Construction is projected to start in 2014 if permitting approvals are granted by the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency regulating development in Kakaako.

The towers are planned on 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 through 2024, 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.