Starwood Vacation Ownership plans to build another time-share in Ka'anapali, Maui, in a move that will more than double the number of time-share units the company operates in the West Maui resort area.

The affiliate of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide yesterday announced it will build a 390-unit luxury time-share complex adjacent to a 270-unit project it completed in two phases in December 2007 and December 2003.

"We're obviously pleased with Hawai'i (as a time-share market)," said Starwood Vacation spokesman David Matheson. "The owners have been asking for more, so we're happy to provide that for them."

The time-share business, in which vacationers purchase the right to use a unit for a short period each year (typically one week but sometimes longer), has dramatically grown in Hawai'i in recent years largely with major hotel chains building new projects or converting hotel rooms.

Last year, there were about 8,000 time-share units in the state, up 16 percent from a year earlier and nearly double the 4,200 units in 2000, according to the most recent survey by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Hotel room inventory actually has decreased slightly as more rooms are converted for other uses, including time-share, which last year represented 11 percent of all vacation accommodation units in the state.

Much of time-share's expansion has been concentrated on Maui, where there were 2,916 units last year, up 32 percent from a year earlier.

Starwood's new time-share is planned on part of a 26-acre parcel known as Lot 3 at North Beach just north of Ka'anapali Resort.

The parcel is a piece of a former 95-acre resort subdivision slated for five to seven hotels and condominiums announced in 1985 by one of Hawai'i's old Big Five companies, Amfac. But an Amfac successor was forced to liquidate significant land holdings several years ago because of financial troubles.

The Amfac successor agreed to sell Lot 3 to an affiliate of Canadian resort development giant Intrawest Corp. as part of an Intrawest purchase of a neighboring 40-acre parcel on which Intrawest is developing a 700-unit luxury condominium-hotel called Honua Kai.

Two years ago, Intrawest sold Lot 3 to Starwood. Intrawest said it didn't plan to develop the site for some time, and had the opportunity to record a $25 million pre-tax profit with the sale to Starwood.

According to property records, Starwood paid $73 million for the land, which includes 10 acres of open space that provides public beach access and will not be developed as part of Amfac's subdivision approval.

Matheson said the new time-share will be integrated with Starwood's existing 270-unit time-share around the 10-acre open space.

"It'll be one contiguous resort complex," he said.

Starwood expects to begin sales of the one-, two- and three-bedroom time-share units early next year, though Matheson said prices have not been set yet. Construction also is expected to begin early next year, and finish in 2011.

The new time-share will be the third time-share project for Starwood in Hawai'i. The company entered the local time-share market eight years ago when it announced plans for the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas in 2000. The company developed that project in two phases and is about sold out of the second phase, which opened in December.

In April, Starwood also opened the 179-unit Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas on Kaua'i.

Starwood operates 12 properties in Hawai'i, which are mostly hotels operated under the Sheraton, Luxury Collection, Westin and W brands.

Around the world, Starwood has about 4,300 time-share units at 28 properties, and has another 634 units under construction and 2,511 planned within existing properties.