May 28, 2008
The Governor’s Turtle Bay Advisory Working Group (TBAWG) held its seventh meeting on May 28, 2008.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
Acquisition Options
Steve Metter, CEO and principal, MW Group, Ltd., and chair of the Acquisition Options Subcommittee, reported on the subcommittee’s meetings with potential buyers. Although details of the negotiations are confidential, Metter informed the group that several potential buyers are actively involved in due diligence and proposing only modest increased building density or none at all as part of their business models for the existing resort footprint. The potential U.S. and international buyers that have approached the state would buy the hotel and golf courses. This is in line with the TBAWG’s view that a private owner, not the state, would continue to own and operate the resort.
Metter said that each potential buyer is receiving the same information during these initial negotiations. This includes an emphasis on the importance of maintaining current union relationships with resort employees and honoring the cultural aspects of the resort property and surrounding area. Each buyer has also been asked to define how they will communicate their vision for the property and involve the community in their decision-making process.
The appointment of Stanford Carr as the new manager for the resort is considered welcome news by the subcommittee and should help to streamline future discussions with the owner. Metter said he was encouraged that lenders selected a Hawai‘i representative who is aligned with the goals of Governor Lingle and the Turtle Bay Advisory Working Group and receptive to the needs and wants of the community. The announcement of Carr’s appointment came with news on May 23rd that Kuilima Resort Co. had reached an agreement with its lenders Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo, related to the foreclosure lawsuit filed by Credit Suisse in December 2007. Mr. Carr has been invited to attend a future meeting of the Working Group.
Technical Issues
The Working Group’s Technical Issues Subcommittee, chaired by DLNR Director Laura Thielen, discussed the need to better understand the effect on potential negotiations of the 1986 Unilateral Agreement and the issue of entitlements, as well as the potential impact of the pending lawsuit by Keep the North Shore Country against the City and County of Honolulu and Kuilima Resort Co. seeking a supplemental environmental impact statement and the Defend Oahu Coalition’s request for review of the property’s state land use classification by the State Land Use Commission (to be considered at the LUC’s July 9, 2008 meeting).
A key focus of the Technical Issues and Acquisition Options subcommittees is facilitating an acquisition of the property that would remove the entitlements from the unimproved lands and ensure that they are never developed.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Governor Lingle will speak to the North Shore Chamber of Commerce at their installation banquet on June 4, where she will talk about progress of the plan to protect Turtle Bay and how it ties into the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s efforts to create an innovation-driven economy. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the North Shore Chamber of Commerce at (808) 637-4558.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Turtle Bay Advisory Working Group (TBAWG) has been rescheduled for Wednesday, June 25 at 10 a.m. in the Governor's conference room at the State Capitol. Turtle Bay's new resort manager, Mr. Stanford Carr, is scheduled to speak to the group.
