Posted on: Saturday, October 6, 2001

Other business
Big Island condo site sells for $6.75 million

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A 9.79-acre condominium site at Waikoloa Beach Resort in South Kohala has been sold to Sunstone Realty Partners LLC for $6.75 million.

The deal was confirmed yesterday by broker Joel LaPinta of Prudential Orchid Isle Properties. It was Joel LaPinta's third multimillion-dollar land sale at the South Kohala resort.

The seller this time was Waikoloa Lagoon Partners, a Japanese investor group. That team acquired the site in 1990 for $10.4 million during the height of Japanese land investment in Hawai'i.

LaPinta yesterday said he sees a "a pent-up demand" for midlevel-priced condominiums in the $400,000 range in West Hawai'i, which has experienced a boom in the luxury and second-home market for the past three years.

Earlier, LaPinta helped to sell other sites for $12 million and $8 million in the resort, which began in the early 1970s under former owner Boise Cascade.

LaPinta yesterday said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks do not seem to have slowed development in South Kohala.

"There's a lot of money by this generation about to retire, and it is going to be spent somewhere, despite the temporary stock market problems," said LaPinta.

Sunstone is led by Curtis De Weese, a former associate of Hawai'i hotel developer Chris Hemmeter.

De Weese was involved in a highly successful Kona condominium project known as Ali'i Lani near Kailua, LaPinta said.