WASHINGTON — Gov. Linda Lingle and owners of the 880-acre Turtle Bay Resort will meet for the first time next month to discuss a state proposal to buy the resort, Lingle said yesterday.

Lingle, in Washington for the National Governors Association conference, said the meeting with Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles private equity firm, will be on March 18.

"When I talk with them (Oaktree officials) ... and express the seriousness with which we are pursuing this, we will see what their position is," Lingle said. "My meeting with them is to determine what is it they really need to get out of the project and let the state acquire it."

Lingle announced her proposal to buy the resort in her Jan. 22 State of the State speech. Turtle Bay officials at the time said the proposal came as a surprise because the governor had not spoken with them about it.

"We're looking forward to the meeting with the governor," Nathan Hokama, spokesman for Kuilima Resort Co., said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Lingle also said the U.S. Interior Department is searching for ways to help with the proposal.

Lingle met with Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne on Tuesday about what kind of help his department can provide Hawai'i in buying the resort.

Kempthorne asked his staff to explore various funding sources and other programs that could help and report by early next month the specific support the Interior Department might give the state, Lingle said.

"They seemed confident that this is something on our part that is very doable," Lingle said. "It went really well."

Lingle's proposal calls for the state to buy the financially troubled resort, allow the current businesses to operate and involve the community in deciding what to do with the undeveloped land.

Chris Paolino, spokesman for the Interior Department, said Kempthorne and Lingle "had a good conversation."

Turtle Bay has the only resort-style hotel on the North Shore and also has condominiums, restaurants and two golf courses.

Kuilima Resort Co., which is developing the resort for Oaktree Capital Management, plans to build up to five hotels with 3,500 rooms and condominium units and four public parks on Turtle Bay under a plan approved in 1986.

But Credit Suisse, an international lender, filed a $283 million mortgage foreclosure lawsuit against Kuilima Resort in December for late principle and interest payments and has asked the state court to appoint an outside receiver to take control.

That opened the door for the state to attempt the purchase.

But during Tuesday's meeting, Kempthorne pointed out that another avenue that could be explored was keeping the resort as a concession to bid out for someone else to run, Lingle said.

Lingle said she is holding a public meeting on March 4 in the Kahuku High School cafeteria to discuss the community's ideas about the Turtle Bay purchase.

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.