Makena Resort sale closes
reprinted courtesy Maui News
6/27/07
MAKENA – The $575 million sale of the Makena Resort, including the 310-room Maui Prince Hotel, closed Tuesday, the hotel and Lokelani Resort Corp., a subsidiary of Seibu Railway Co., announced Tuesday.
The buyers are Morgan Stanley Real Estate and Dowling Co.
“We are committed to developing Makena into the most environmentally sensitive community in the state of Hawaii,” said Everett Dowling, president of Dowling Co.
The sales agreement provides that Prince Resorts Hawaii will continue to operate the resort until a new management company is hired.
“We welcome the new owners and look forward to working with them,” said Prince Resorts President Donn Takahashi. “We are pleased to continue to manage Makena Resort on their behalf during this transitional period. There will be no noticeable changes to operations and customers can expect the usual high standards of Prince service.”
The new owners have pledged to assume the current International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract and retain all 500 of the resort’s union employees.
Aside from the hotel, the 1,800-acre property includes two 18-hole Robert Trent Jones-designed golf courses and about 1,300 acres of undeveloped land.
When the sale was initially announced in early February, Dowling said the new owners’ first order of business would be to pursue the resort’s existing rezoning application, which has stalled before the Maui County Council Planning Committee.
According to the Pacific Business News, the closing of the sale, which may be the largest commercial real estate deal in Hawaii this year, was delayed by a lawsuit filed by Ulupalakua Ranch against former resort owner Seibu Group of Japan. The lawsuit involved access rights to the land and was settled June 13. The settlement terms were not disclosed.
Honolulu-based Trinity Investments was part of the original buying group but has since dropped out.
Dowling Co. projects on Maui include Kamalii Elementary School in Kihei, four Department of Hawaiian Home Lands projects, One Palaue’a Bay, Kulamalu in Pukalani, the Kamehameha Schools Maui campus in Pukalani, and Maluaka in Makena.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate has acquired $121.5 billion in real estate assets worldwide and currently manages $55.6 billion in real estate assets on behalf of its clients, according to the closing announcement.
reprinted courtesy Maui News 6/27/07
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Peter Gelsey R (PB)
Wailea Makena Real Estate, Inc.
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