Potential buyers line up for chance to buy a unit in The Collection condo

Close to 100 people prepared to camp overnight outside the sales office of a planned condominium tower in Kakaako on Friday to ensure a chance to buy a unit in the tower named The Collection on the site of the former Comp­USA store.

The sales office at 680 Ala Moana Blvd. opens at 9 a.m. today, but the first person arrived Friday around 5 a.m., according to representatives of the proj­ect being developed by Alexander & Baldwin Inc.

Unit prices range from about $380,000 to $1 million. The condo complex is planned with 467 residential units, including 397 in the tower and 70 in three- and four-story buildings. Only 199 units in the tower reserved for owner-occupant buyers are available for sale today.

Construction on the project, which also is slated to include retail and restaurant space along with a 914-space parking garage, is projected to begin next year and take two years to complete.

"We are thrilled to begin sales on this fresh, new and exciting project," A&B President Chris Benjamin said in a statement.

The 3-acre project site is part of a master plan by area landowner Kame­ha­meha Schools that includes seven residential towers over 29 acres. The trust is selling A&B the Collection site, which is bordered by South, Auahi and Keawe streets and Ala Moana Boulevard.