Alexander & Baldwin Inc. has its eye on a Kapi'olani Boulevard property adjacent to Ala Moana Center that could become the site for another residential condominium tower.

The Honolulu-based company is exploring a purchase of a former automobile dealership at 1391 Kapi'olani Blvd. from Motor Supply Ltd., according to a person familiar with A&B's plans.

No contract to buy the vacant 1.4-acre site has been reached, so A&B's plan may not be realized.

But if successful, A&B's effort could result in the company's building its third residential high-rise, and further swell an already large pipeline of planned condo towers in Honolulu.

Bob Reierson, Motor Supply president, would not confirm A&B's interest, and said Motor Supply is speaking with numerous parties interested in the property.

"It's really premature," he said.

A&B, through its spokeswoman Linda Howe, declined comment. But one source familiar with A&B's plan said the company is considering a roughly 25-story condo. The source, who was not authorized to speak on behalf of A&B, asked not to be identified.

A&B has been one of O'ahu's most active developers during the condo high-rise boom that started about five years ago.

The company, largely a developer of real estate on Maui and Kaua'i where it has agricultural lands, has become a major player in O'ahu's housing market.

In the past five years, A&B partnered to develop 116 homes at Ko Olina Resort & Marina, invested in the luxury condo high-rise Hokua in Kaka'ako, built the 100-unit Lanikea condo tower in Waikiki and is building the 352-unit Keola La'i condo in Kaka'ako.

Earlier this year, A&B announced it will help develop the initial 5,000-home phase of Waiawa, a Central O'ahu community long planned by Gentry Cos.

A&B also had plans to develop three condo towers adjacent to Kewalo Basin as part of a state redevelopment initiative for the Kaka'ako waterfront, but the Legislature torpedoed the project when the public protested.

Meanwhile, O'ahu's real estate market maintains its stamina with record or near-record home prices. Economists project home prices will rise modestly at least through next year even as the number of sales declines and inventory rises.

Developers believe there will be enough buyers for new condos that typically take two years to build. At least eight high-rise condos are under construction in Honolulu from downtown to Waikiki. A half dozen or so more are planned. Two were completed this year.

The Motor Supply site on Kapi'olani is considered good for a residential tower, in part because of its proximity to Ala Moana Center and a Nordstrom department store under construction a block away.

Motor Supply's property was not advertised for sale, but got a lot of interest from prospective buyers after a Cutter automobile dealership moved several months ago, Reierson said.

"We had plans to do another type of project, but there was so much interest in it, it sort of tabled the plans we had," he said. "There have been so many unsolicited offers that we did not anticipate."

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.