COURTESY KUKUI'ULA DEVELOPMENT CO. LLC The $100 million Kukui'ula Plantation House, shown in an artist's rendering, will be the gathering place for the Kauai community's social and recreational activities at the 1,010-acre luxury resort. The clubhouse, as well as a spa, Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course, and other amenities for homeowners are all slated for completion in late 2010.

Kauai luxury resort breaks ground

Kukui'ula will be completed by 2010

The $100 million Kukui'ula Plantation House and spa, a Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course, and other amenities for homeowners are all slated for completion in late 2010.

Kukui'ula, a luxury resort community on Kauai's south shore named after kukui nut torches, is being developed by Kukui'ila Development Company LLC, a joint venture between DMB Associates Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz. and A&B Properties, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin Inc.

"Our Plantation House is the gathering place for all of our social and club activities and ensures the family-oriented lifestyle we're offering our owners," said Richard A. Holtzman, president of Kukui'ula Development. "Initiating this phase of our development is a testament to the commitment of the DMB and A&B partnership to creating the most authentic expression of luxurious island living in Hawaii."

The overall project will offer up to 1,500 homes, including custom lots of a quarter-acre to more than one acre, with sweeping mauka and ocean views. One- and two-story plantation-style cottages will offer between 1,500 to 4,600 square feet, with lanais and garages.

Amenities will include the clubhouse, golf shop and spa, a club restaurant, resort-style pools, tennis courts, gardens, an upcountry farm with a resident horticulturist, freshwater lake and children's play area.

In addition, there will be a retail center, Kukui'ula Village, offering about 91,675 square feet for unique, island-style shops, boutiques, and restaurants, slated to open in summer 2009.

The resort, which is being marketed as "Kauai's Living Garden," is set on mountain hillsides and sloping fields. Over 10,000 native trees and once-endangered flowers and plants will be featured at the resort in collaboration with the National Tropical Botanical Garden next door.

The Plantation House, measuring 20,000 square feet, will feature a wrap-around lanai with panoramic views of the nearby Spouting Horn blowhole, ocean and 200-acre golf course.

Kukui'ula's spa, meanwhile, will offer a glass-walled steam room in a lava courtyard, fitness facilities, lap pool and wellness programs.