Hawai'i County has launched its first high-tech effort to sell government real estate, with a Web site that went live late last week advertising 738 acres in Hāmākua, West Hawaii Today reported.

The site, www.paauilolandsales.com, lists 16 parcels of land worth $6.18 million it intends to sell through sealed bids. Bid openings are scheduled for March 31, April 7 and 14 and May 24.

Other than the Web site, however, the county plans to do most of its advertising close to home, with ads in newspapers on the Big Island, O'ahu and possibly the West Coast, said county Property Manager Ken Van Bergen.

The Web site has already sparked a few out-of-state callers, but no international ones, he said.

Mayor Billy Kenoi decided to sell some of the land, which the county acquired 15 years ago in lieu of taxes from bankrupt Hamakua Sugar Co., to balance the county's 2009-10 budget. The county has since found it could balance the budget without the land sale, primarily by cutting positions and travel expenses.