Developers of the master-planned Kukui'ula community on Kaua'i reported initial sales of 57 residential lots for $82 million, or roughly $1.4 million on average, in the project approved for 1,500 homes.

Yesterday's sales announcement represented a milestone for Kukui'ula — planned since 1985 — and follows about a year of infrastructure construction. The luxury golf community, between Po'ipu and Lawa'i Valley on Kaua'i's southern shore, is expected to be developed over 10 years.

The response from buyers was weaker than original expectations by the project's originator, largely because of Hawai'i's slowing residential real estate market and permitting delays.

Alexander & Baldwin Inc., the Honolulu-based firm that initiated Kukui'ula, reported that more than 300 nonbinding reservations were received about two years ago in response to 123 lots released for sale.

Since then, residential real estate sales in the state have fallen from their peak, and many Kukui'ula reservations fell through.

Hannah Sirois, sales and marketing vice president for Kukui'ula Realty, said the response still was remarkable given that buyers are committing to million-dollar purchases two or three years ahead of being able to see or use amenities planned for the community, including a golf course, spa and commercial village.

"These buyers are early adapters," she said. "They see the vision and understand the model the developer has planned. It's going to be an extraordinary experience."

A&B is developing Kukui'ula on 1,010 acres with Arizona-based partner DMB Associates Inc. as Kukui'ula Development Co. LLC.

"We're committed to creating a very special life-enhancing residential community," said Richard Holtzman, Kukui'ula Development president.

The developers describe the planned community as "Kaua'i's Living Garden" with features including $85 million in landscaping, a 20-acre lake and an 8-acre farm available to residents and staffed by a resident horticulturist. Other elements of the estimated $725 million project include a boutique hotel with 31 cottage units, a resort spa, recreational center, a 20-acre community park, 5-acre beach park, trails, a 75,000-square-foot commercial village, and an 18-hole golf course.

Lots for sale range from a quarter-acre to about 1 acre, with some fronting the planned golf course and others with ocean views.

As part of the marketing effort, initial buyers completing sales this year have been offered extra benefits such as preferential golf membership prices and some free use of the hotel.

House lots remaining for sale range from about $1 million to just more than $4 million. Some lots also come with construction packages for plantation-style cottages. Homeowner association dues are estimated at $800 a month.

Originally, Kukui'ula was envisioned to be more of a typical modern Hawai'i resort, but has undergone major changes over the past two decades.

A&B, which owns about 22,000 acres on Kaua'i, first initiated Kukui'ula's master plan and began to seek approvals in 1985 for the project envisioned with 3,400 homes, a marina and golf course.

After a key state land approval decision in 1995, it was projected that the first homes could be built by 1997. But the economic downturn that unfolded after Hurricane 'Iniki in 1992 led A&B to mothball Kukui'ula.

In 1998, A&B reshaped and restarted Kukui'ula as a resort with a 200-unit low-rise hotel, 300 time-share units, residential homes and a golf course. The marina was eliminated, and with up to 700 approved vacation units, the project would have been Kaua'i's biggest resort since Princeville at Hanalei was begun more than 30 years ago.

A&B began selling 32 residential lots known as Koloa Estates in 1999, but it took about three years to sell out the subdivision.

In 2002, A&B partnered with DMB, a privately held real estate development firm, to proceed with a yet-again revised Kukui'ula, and has largely been in a planning and permitting phase over the past five years.

The project received final county zoning approval in mid-2004, and a sales and marketing campaign was launched in April 2005.

Early last year, the partnership started construction of a two-mile bypass road required by the county to minimize traffic impacts, and has been installing on-site infrastructure.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.