More than 1,500 acres of land that includes Makalei Golf Club on the Big Island is headed for a foreclosure auction next month following a failed effort by a San Francisco company to develop the North Kona property.

The parcel mauka of the private luxury Kuki'o residential subdivision and golf club has long been targeted for residential development, though largely economic circumstances over the last two decades have left the land mostly undeveloped despite plans by three different owners.

Once part of Huehue Ranch, the property was envisioned in the late 1980s as an "agricultural subdivision" integrating homes with a golf course, tennis club, cattle ranch and equestrian facilities.

A development partnership led by Hong Kong-based Regent International Hotels and backed by Tokyo-based EIE International Corp. initially acquired the land as part of a larger 2,300-acre tract it bought for $131 million in 1989 with plans for a luxury resort.

But two years later, under financial pressure, the partnership named Huehue Ranch Associates LP sold most of the land — about 1,800 acres — for $60 million to a Japan-based golf course company headed by the brother of Japanese golf pro Tommy Nakajima.

The Nakajima affiliate, Makalei Hawaii Corp., built the 18-hole golf course on about 370 acres in 1992. But the balance of the land remained undeveloped, including agriculture-zoned property planned for about 180 single-family home lots.

In 2005, an affiliate of San Francisco-based development and investment firm Lynch Investments LLC paid $16.5 million for the Makalei property that had been reduced to 1,650 acres, according to property records.

The firm headed by Peter Lynch planned to upgrade the golf course and develop homes, primarily on one-acre lots. But according to court records, Lynch in late 2006 defaulted on a $26 million loan obtained to finance the project.

Last year, Lynch's lender, an affiliate of New York-based real estate financing firm Gramercy Capital Corp., acquired the property as part of a settlement agreement and recently obtained a judgment from Hilo-based Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra to sell the property at public auction.

Lynch could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Makalei Golf Club has continued normal operations under management of Kitson & Partners, a Florida-based manager and developer of golf courses and real estate that also manages the Big Island Country Club and Princeville Golf Resort.

The course, with multiple tees that can extend the total 18-hole course from 5,242 yards to a championship length of 7,091 yards, will serve as a qualifying site April 26 for Big Island golfers who want to participate in the 2008 PGA McGladrey Team Championship.

In a court order last month, Joseph Toy of Honolulu-based Hospitality Advisors LLC was appointed foreclosure commissioner to sell the property.

Toy said an auction is scheduled for May 15 in Kona after sale ads run in a few publications, including The Wall Street Journal.