A plan to redevelop most of the Ward Warehouse retail center in Kakaako with two high-rise condominiums received mostly positive public testimony at a state hearing Wednesday.

Developer Howard Hughes Corp. presented its plan to the Hawaii Community Development Authority board at a meeting that represented the public’s first opportunity to comment in person ahead of a Dec. 3 meeting to consider project approval.

The plan referred to as Ward Village Gateway includes a 28-story tower with 123 units, a 35-story tower with 113 units, and a 34,000-square-foot public recreational space that includes a waterway running between the two towers. Bases of the two towers also would be fronted by low-rise townhomes along Ala Moana Boulevard and retail space along Auahi Street.

Much of the testimony from about a dozen people who sat through a presentation that lasted more than three hours and discussed engineering and other technical aspects of the plan came from construction industry representatives endorsing the project.

Audrey Lee, who described herself as a concerned citizen, expressed skepticism about whether adequate wastewater system capacity exists to handle the project and all the others being advanced in Kakaako.

"You’re looking at thousands and thousands of units," she said.

Dean Seki, state comptroller and an HCDA board member, noted that the city, which has held up housing projects on Oahu over sewer capacity issues, granted sewer connection permits for the two towers last month. "All the checks and balances have gone through," he said.

Some Ward Warehouse tenants also support the plan even though they stand to be displaced.

James Russo, president of the company that has operated the Executive Chef store at Ward Warehouse for 34 years, said Hughes Corp. has shown great concern for tenants.

"I think the plans of the Howard Hughes Corporation for the area are by far the most thoughtful and exciting of all that I have seen so far," Russo said in written testimony that referred to previous redevelopment plans by prior landowners.

David Striph, senior vice president in Hawaii for Texas-based Hughes Corp., said the company has met with about two-thirds of Ward Warehouse tenants to discuss the project. The company will assist tenants with relocation efforts inside and outside Ward Centers.

Nick Vanderboom, company senior vice president of development, said there is no expected timetable for starting construction given that development will be based partly on market demand for condos if the project is approved.

However, Hughes Corp. said in its permit application that demolition work could begin in the second half of next year after launching sales in the first half of 2015.

The developer already has three towers with 915 combined units approved, and so far is building one luxury tower called Waiea in which the grand penthouse is going for just under $100 million, according to one future resident who bought a unit in the building.

Hughes Corp. also is advancing plans to obtain permits for a tower just Ewa of the Ward Entertainment Center theaters and a tower next to a recently announced Whole Foods store mauka of the theaters. In all, there are seven condo towers in the works as part of a master plan for Hughes Corp. to redevelop 60 acres at Ward Centers with up to 22 residential towers.

For Ward Village Gateway, the developer is asking for a few mostly minor deviations from HCDA rules, including using an average 15-foot building setback on Ala Moana instead of a uniform 15-foot setback, and increasing how far a pedestrian shade canopy may extend into a front yard area to 10 feet from 4 feet.

One more major deviation requested is a parking garage topped by an amenity deck 65 feet high. That is the current height limit for such structures, but Hughes Corp. is locked into a prior 45-foot limit under its master plan approved in 2009.

A hearing to consider the requested rule deviations is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday.

The board is scheduled to make a decision on the permit Dec. 3 at a meeting starting at noon.

All hearings are being held in HCDA’s office conference room at 461 Cooke St. and include an opportunity for the public to comment.