Amfac land in West Maui sold to Intrawest affiliate
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
An affiliate of Canadian resort development giant Intrawest Corp. has purchased about 40 acres of undeveloped beachfront land in West Maui from an affiliate of Amfac Hawaii LLC for $33 million.
Intrawest also acquired an option to buy another 27 acres of Amfac property at North Beach, or Keka'a, just north of Ka'anapali Resort as part of the transaction, which closed last week, according to property records.
The deal is part of a series of strategic land sales by Amfac, which has been reduced from one of Hawai'i's largest businesses to a vastly diminished company that recently discharged massive debt through bankruptcy.
Intrawest, which has more than $2 billion in assets, has not disclosed its plans for the land, but the acquisition raises the potential for further resort development.
An Intrawest spokesman could not be reached yesterday for comment. A representative of real estate firm CB Richard Ellis Hawaii Inc., which brokered the sale, also was not available.
The North Beach land, a former airstrip now zoned for hotel and residential use, had long been a trouble spot for Amfac, which in 1985 announced development plans for a 95-acre resort subdivision and for five to seven hotels and condominiums on the property.
But the project was contingent on construction of a bypass highway around Lahaina and Ka'anapali that has yet to be built. Amfac pressed ahead about five years ago with the intent to build a 280-unit time-share, but residents objected, citing concerns including traffic and beach access.
Amfac worked out an agreement with West Maui residents to set aside 27 acres of North Beach for a park and opened 10 acres for parking and beach access. But three years ago, the company sold the plans and property for its time-share to Starwood Vacation Ownership for $19.5 million.
Starwood turned the plans into the 256-unit Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas time-share and is building a 103-unit first phase to open next month.
Meanwhile, Amfac's struggles continued and the subsidiary of Chicago-based Northbrook Corp. sought bankruptcy protection. Earlier this year Amfac emerged from Chapter 11 with about 5,000 acres of Hawai'i real estate and $11 million of debt, after discharging about $330 million in claims by creditors who now own a stake in the company.
Amfac has said it intends to use proceeds from land sales to develop about 1,000 acres primarily in Maui's Ka'anapali/Honokowai resort area.
Vancouver-based Intrawest is a major developer of time-share projects and an owner of ski and golf resorts that generated $1 billion in revenue last year.
The company owns the Whistler Blackcomb alpine resort in British Columbia and eight other resort villages in Canada and the United States. Intrawest also owns and manages about 25 golf courses, including the Big Island Country Club in Kona.
Intrawest has ongoing resort development projects at Squaw Valley in California, Lake Las Vegas in Nevada and Snowmass in Colorado.
Last year the company agreed to co-develop a time-share, commercial village and expanded marina at Ko Olina Resort & Marina. But that deal fell through after then-Gov. Ben Cayetano vetoed a $75 million tax-credit bill to finance construction of a Ko Olina aquarium.
