Oct. 20–A giant real estate investment firm and former owner of major Hawaii hotels has made a deal to buy Turtle Bay Resort.
Blackstone Group has arranged to buy the resort on Oahu's North Shore for $350 million, according to Real Estate Alert, a publication on institutional real estate investing. Another source closer to the deal confirmed the tentative purchase and said the price is $330 million.
Such an acquisition, if completed, would put Turtle Bay in the hands of a firm with huge financial resources and experience investing heavily in resort properties.
The current owners of Turtle Bay retained brokerage firm JLL early last year to find a buyer, or a partner to expand the resort with new residential and vacation units.
Paula Chirhart, a spokeswoman for New York-based Blackstone, declined comment.
Drew Stotesbury, Turtle Bay's CEO, said he was not at liberty to comment.
Keith Vieira, a longtime local hotel industry executive who is principal of KV &Associates Hospitality Consulting, said Blackstone is a good fit for Turtle Bay given the company's track record and resources.
"They have a solid history of investing money into the properties they acquire," he said. "That's good for Turtle Bay."
In Hawaii, Blackstone acquired the Hyatt Regency Waikiki in 2013 for $445 million and last year sold it for $780 million after spending roughly $100 million on upgrades. The company also partnered to develop the $420 million Grand Islander timeshare tower that opened in March at Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Other Hawaii properties that Blackstone bought and later sold include the Waikoloa Beach Marriott and Wailea Marriott.
The investment firm claims to be the largest private equity owner of real estate in the world, managing $111 billion in assets. The company is projected to generate $6.5 billion in revenue this year.
Vieira said Blackstone has been good at upgrading properties to reposition them with higher room rates that attract higher-spending visitors to the state. Often after making improvements, the company sells for a profit.
Turtle Bay represents a challenge on that front, as it has largely been a source of financial difficulties and other headaches for most owners over its 45-year history.
Las Vegas casino operator Del Webb and Prudential Insurance Co. spent $27 million developing an initial phase that opened in 1972 with a 443-room hotel and a golf course. The property, originally known as Kuilima, later added a second golf course and resort condominiums.
In 1988 Japanese-based Asahi Jyuken bought the roughly 900-acre property for $128 million and attempted to execute an expansion plan calling for 2,000 hotel rooms and 2,000 condos. Asahi began building a 383-room hotel fronting Kawela Bay in 1990 but halted work the next year as a local economic downturn unfolded.
Hawaii developer Bill Mills bought Turtle Bay in 1998 from debt-ridden Asahi for an undisclosed price, using $52 million from investment firm Oaktree Capital Management that also financed two smaller property acquisitions by Mills.
Two years later Oaktree wrested ownership of Turtle Bay after settling a lawsuit against Mills that alleged he received kickbacks from Asahi and a broker.
California-based Oaktree resurrected Turtle Bay expansion plans in 2005, saying it intended to add up to 3,500 new hotel and condo units. But that move prompted concerned citizens to challenge the plan in court on grounds that city approvals from the 1980s were outdated and invalid.
Oaktree's effort stalled, and the company defaulted on about $400 million in mortgage liabilities tied to Turtle Bay, which led investment banking firm Credit Suisse to sue Oaktree in 2007 in an effort to repossess the resort through foreclosure on behalf of itself and other creditors.
The foreclosure case was resolved in 2010 when a consortium of investment firms led by Credit Suisse assumed ownership of the resort. The new owners retained Canadian-based Replay Resorts to manage the property, make some upgrades and resolve the expansion plan fight.
Replay downsized the expansion plan after discussions with community leaders and amended an environmental impact statement in an effort to move forward. Replay also negotiated to sell the state rights to preserve some undeveloped parts of the resort for $45 million.
As part of the preservation deal, the state acquired 53 acres fronting Kawela Bay plus an easement prohibiting development on 568 acres that includes land below and around Turtle Bay's golf courses. The city, which chipped in $7.5 million, received 8 acres for beachfront park use, and the resort gave up the ability to develop 650 homes.
Turtle Bay's owner retains oceanfront land on opposite sides of the existing hotel proposed for an estimated $370 million project with up to 100 homes plus 625 rooms in two hotel or timeshare properties.
