Misty Isle Farms, the 500-acre estate once owned by the late Tom Stewart, was put back on the market last month, listed with a high-end international real estate broker for $43 million.

The central island property was first put up for sale in 2007, when Stewart moved his company, Services Group of America, to Arizona. Then priced at $125 million, it did not sell and was taken off the market for a time. Stewart died in a helicopter accident in 2010.

The estate is now owned by Stewart’s family trusts and his company and is managed by the real estate division of his company. It was listed in mid-December with Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty, which has offices in Seattle, Bainbridge Island and Kent.

Brad Vancour, the realtor handling the property, said that Sotheby’s will target high-net worth individuals and large international buyers who can afford such properties. Only qualified buyers will be able to see it.

“At Sotheby’s International Realty we already deal with the who’s who that can afford such properties,” Vancour said in an email. “We also have many qualified clients that seek such unique trophy properties.”

Misty Isle Farms is a sprawling estate that Stewart, a wealthy businessman who kept a cattle farm there, pieced together decades ago from dozens of parcels. At 525 acres, the property includes rolling pastures, 8 miles of trails, a 6,500-square-foot home and several other smaller homes and structures. It also has a driving range and putting green, horse stables, an indoor riding arena and a 2,200-foot landing strip with a helipad and hangar.

Stewart also extensively landscaped the property, creating a private arboretum with more than 3,000 trees, hundreds of varieties of flowers and shrubs and a 3-acre man-made lake.

In 2013, a group of islanders looked a the possibility of purchasing Misty Isle for farmland preservation and developing a multi-use site there. Representatives of the Vashon land trust, Vashon Island Growers Association, King County and PCC Farmland Trust were all in talks about the idea, but were ultimately asked by a representative of the owners to stop discussing it.

Vancour declined to say why the property’s owners decided to put it back on the market now, but said, “It’s like any big property. You get to a point where it’s very expensive to maintain. No one is using it that much.”

He said Slade Stewart, who is now in charge of the company and the estate, decided to put it back on the market.

In a press release from Sotheby’s, Dean Jones, president and CEO of the firm, suggested that the improving real estate market makes it a good time to try to sell Misty Isle. It was already promoted at a luxury properties showcase in Shanghai, and Sotheby’s created a website to advertise the estate at ownmistyislefarms.com.

“The recovery of real estate in gateway markets in the US makes the timing of this listing especially appropriate,” he said. “Having just returned from China on my third delegation tour in 2013 representing the Pacific Northwest, I can assure you the Seattle metro area is very much on the map overseas. At the same time, this sort of property segment and price point is well-represented in popular ranch markets throughout California, Colorado or Texas.”

The parcels that make up Misty Isle, are mostly zoned as rural, Vancour said, meaning it would be difficult for a buyer to develop the site. King County also owns a farmland preservation easement on 208 acres there. While there could be opportunity for smaller development, Vancour said that’s not likely the direction a buyer would take.

“Due to the economics of this property, it will probably be a buyer who will keep the property as is and maintain its beauty,” he said.

Ken Zaglin, who owns Vashon’s John L. Scott office and is familiar with Misty Isle, agreed.

“At anywhere near the pricing that this property is currently at, there would be virtually no chance someone would buy it based on potential development rights,” he said.

A press release from Sotheby’s called the asking price $43 million a “relative deal.” Zaglin said it would be tough to determine a fair price for the estate because it is so unique, but called $43 million “much more realistic” than the former price of $125 million.

Sotheby’s recently listed a 240-acre ranch outside Santa Barabara for $125 million, as well as Tom Cruise’s 300-acre retreat in the Rocky Mountains for $59 million. A 7,500-acre ranch in Malaga, Wash., is currently for sale for $19.4 million, and a 150-acre Arabian horse ranch in Ellensburg is listed at $12.5 million.

Emma Amiad, a buyer’s broker on Vashon, agreed that the new price is more realistic but said it could still be a challenge to find a buyer for Misty Isle.

“I think the challenge is mostly what else is there you can get for that kind of money in the world,” she said. “Why would someone in that price point be attracted to Vashon as opposed to buying an island in the Mediterranean or a waterfront chateau?”

Zaglin said he doesn’t think a sale is out of the question.

“It may very well have an appeal for someone who has that breadth of monetary latitude,” he said.