Preserving the Turtle Bay Property
Governor Lingle announced a bold plan for the State to acquire the Turtle Bay property on O‘ahu’s North Shore during her 2008 State of the State Address. Her vision is to protect the pristine, undeveloped lands and secure the long-term economic viability of the existing resort.
The 17-member Governor’s Turtle Bay Advisory Working Group will help develop and review various ideas, recommendations and plans that are being proposed on how to acquire the property. The Advisory Working Group will also serve as a communications channel to the Ko‘olauloa-North Shore communities.
The Governor's Turtle Bay Advisory Working Group (TBAWG) held its tenth meeting on September 10, 2008.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
Acquisition Options
Steve Metter, chair of the Acquisition Options Subcommittee, was not in attendance. TBAWG Chair Bill Paty reported on his behalf, saying that discussions with potential buyers continue, however due to their confidential nature, more details cannot be disclosed at this time.
The group was reminded that if a buyer is not secured before the end of the month, Oaktree will officially bow out and Stanford Carr (now Oaktree's designated Interim Management Officer) will become the asset manager for the lenders.
Oaktree is currently waiting to see if an extension on their application for a subdivision permit will be granted by the City and County of Honolulu, which is required before building permits can be issued to construct additional structures. This is a significant piece of the puzzle that could impact the value of the resort during the acquisition process.
Time could be working on the side of the state, in that as access to credit gets tighter due to current economic conditions, potential buyers who are stepping forward may have difficulty obtaining financing to fund expansion of the resort.
Technical Concerns
The Subcommittee continues to review provisions of the City and County of Honolulu's 1986 Unilateral Agreement (UA) with the resort that have or have not been fulfilled – and how they would come into play with different acquisition strategies. However, until potential buyers reveal themselves, it is difficult to move forward on these issues.
To recap, the UA consists of conditions developers agreed to in 1986 in order to gain zoning changes necessary to expand the resort. These conditions were designed to make the deal more acceptable to the community. The expansion never occurred because of the financial problems of the Japanese company that owned the resort at the time. However, the unilateral agreement has no end date, which means it remains in effect.
Since the resort expansion and community provisions of the UA are connected, it is uncertain what would happen to the UA provisions if a new buyer were secured that chose not to expand beyond the existing resort footprint.
Read frequently asked questions to learn more about the 22-year-old Unilateral Agreement.
TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND CONTINUES FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
The Trust for Public Land has launched a fundraising campaign to raise $5 million to assist in the protection of the Turtle Bay property. To donate, visit www.tpl.org/turtlebay. For more information, please contact: Keith Kraughto, Hawaiian Islands Program Development Director, The Trust for Public Land, 212 Merchant Street, Suite 320, Honolulu, HI 96813, (808) 524-8560, keith.kraughto@tpl.org.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Turtle Bay Advisory Working Group is subject to the call of the chair and will be announced at a later date.
