A Houston developer hopes to break ground early next year on the first phase of the 1.9-million-square-foot South Station air rights project, including a landmark skyscraper rising on Atlantic Avenue.

Hines Interests LP has approached the Boston Redevelopment Authority to discuss modifications to the 49-story, 970,000-square-foot office tower, including a smaller office component and the addition of residential space, BRA spokesman Nicholas Martin said.

Hines’ designation as the site developer expires in April 2017, Massachusetts Department of Transportation spokesman Jason Johnson said. The project includes 348,010 square feet of air rights development.

The developer has asked for the project to be placed on the agenda of an upcoming meeting of the BRA board of directors as soon as next Thursday, said Kate Norton, a spokeswoman for Hines Interests. The vote would certify a new equity partner on the project, Martin said.

Hines had partnered with Tufts University’s real estate subsidiary TUDC on the project, until TUDC’s exit in 2009.

A development plan approved in 2006 calls for additional phases on the 8-acre site including a 200-room hotel and nearly 200,000 square feet of residential space, along with retail shops and a parking garage above an expanded bus terminal.

The Hines project is the latest in a series of huge developments planned near public transit centers in Boston.

Boston Properties and Delaware North Cos. broke ground in January on the Hub on Causeway, the first phase of their $1 billion office, residential and retail project at North Station.

HYM Investments expects to begin construction this year of a 45-story apartment tower in the initial phase of its $1.5 billion One Congress redevelopment at the Government Center garage property.

And Boston Properties last week submitted plans for a 1.3 million-square-foot mixed-use development at Back Bay Station and its neighboring Clarendon Street garage property.