A long-held vision to develop a technology park in Kakaako moved a step closer to realization Wednesday as a state board voted to proceed with a proposal from local developer Stanford Carr to build an initial $80 million phase.

The board of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency regulating development in Kakaako, voted 7-0 to accept the plan offered by Carr subject to agreeing upon some details, such as how much Carr would pay to lease the state-owned land for 65 years.

If negotiations are fruitful and final terms are approved by HCDA’s board, Carr anticipates being able to break ground in 15 months.

“This is a public-private partnership to diversify our economy through innovation and technology,” Carr said. “It’s a great extension of what exists there — the (University of Hawaii) cancer research center and medical school.”

The project includes two pieces that would be developed together. One piece is a 13,500-square-foot Collaboration Center, also referred to as the Entrepreneur’s Sandbox, that would serve as an extension of an aging and outdated state-owned business incubator near UH Manoa.

The other piece is a 153,279-square-foot office building for commercial tech businesses with a breezeway to the Sandbox. This building is being called the Innovation Hale and would be partly occupied by local tech and health care firm ‘ike and local office and school supply company Fisher Hawaii.

HCDA issued a request for proposals in December to build the two facilities on part of a state-owned parking lot next to the UH cancer center. Carr was the only respondent.

Carr initially proposed building the Collaboration Center for $10.2 million, but reduced his bid to $7.3 million in a best and final offer.

“We’re pretty much building the Sandbox pro bono,” he said.

All the funding for the Sandbox is coming from the state, a federal grant and Fisher. The Legislature provided $3 million, the U.S. Economic Development Administration provided $3 million and Fisher has committed $1.3 million.

Carr plans to build the larger Innovation Hale for $72.6 million using financing he must arrange. This cost excludes nonconstruction “soft costs” including engineering, archaeological work, governmental fees, builder’s risk insurance, furniture and fixtures that would be HCDA’s responsibility. It also excludes relocating overhead Hawaiian Electric Co. power lines that typically would be the responsibility of HCDA.

Deepak Neupane, HCDA planning and development director, estimated that the agency’s cost would be $2 million for the power lines and $200,000 for design costs.

If built, Carr’s project will represent the first of potentially three phases on a 5.5-acre tech park campus proposed by HCDA in conjunction with the High Technology Development Corp., a state agency that facilitates high-tech industry growth.

The other two phases include 140,000 square feet of space for higher education, 47,000 square feet of startup business incubation space, a 900-stall parking structure and a public plaza that HCDA would like to have done by 2020.

Such a campus would realize a vision that goes back at least 20 years.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano advocated for a high-tech park, UH medical school, a Bishop Museum science and technology center, and a world-class aquarium in the area in the mid-1990s. The medical school was completed in 2005 and was followed by the cancer center in 2013.