Maui Park offered for sale
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
The former Maui Park hotel is being put up for sale by a San Diego-based investment partnership that fixed up the 288-unit complex just north of Ka'anapali and turned it into residential rentals.
Genesis Aviation photo
Del Mar Pacific Maui 288 Partners LLC, which bought the six-building low-rise in late 1999 from Japan-based Dia Pacific Development Corp., said it is finished with a 16-month conversion and is ready to cash out.
The former Maui Park hotel has been converted into a 288-unit complex for residential rentals. The six-building complex, at the top of the photo, was built in 1987.
Dan Carless Sr., a Del Mar Pacific partner, said the firm rid the property of some "objectionable elements" and made it a home to more than 300 blue-collar residents.
"It was our goal with Maui Park to convert the property from its then-undesirable status in the community into an asset for West Maui residents," he said. "Having now accomplished our goal, we have decided to pull out our equity and move on to the next project."
Del Mar Pacific bought the property for $15 million and spent about $5 million on renovations, according to records and broker Douglas Pothul with Colliers Monroe Friedlander.
"They are value-add players," he said. "They are not long-term holders. They get in, make their improvements and get out."
Pothul said Maui Park is being marketed without an asking price, but is expected to sell in the $30 million range. Prospective buyers are expected to be investors interested in multi-family condominium complexes or condominium conversion because the complex is legally divided into separate units. "You can sell the (individual) units tomorrow," Pothul said. "That's where the profitability is."
Local condo conversion specialist Peter Savio, who tried to buy Maui Park from Dia before Del Mar Pacific, said the complex is positioned well not only in location (across from Honokowai Beach and a few minutes from Kapalua Airport) but also because a housing shortage exists on the Valley Isle.
Savio added that he's interested. "It's a good property," he said.
Maui Park is 95 percent rented. It was built in 1987 and had been managed as a Castle Hotels & Resorts vacation rental property until the conversion to long-term residential rentals.
Andrew Gomes can be reached at 525-8065 or agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.
