Last week, we posted on the Makena Resort going into foreclosure. Lender Wells Fargo is foreclosing on resort owners Morgan Stanley and Maui Developer Everett Dowling. Our post featured a summary of what this meant for the future of Makena Developement. The last bullet of my post was that the Maui Prince and the Makena Golf Courses would remain open. Yesterday, concerns mounted when the Maui Prince’s current management team announced that the resort would cease operations on September 16th. Within an hour, the lender made their own announcement that they intended to try to keep the resort open by putting it into receivership. The initial statement by the management team received more fanfare than the follow up statement by the lender. I was continuing to see Twitter updates today indicating that the resort would be closing its doors.
Today, we received two press releases on behalf of the lender. The first announced a press conference by the lender’s attorney where plans for receivership would be discussed. The second press release gave a more detailed account of Wells Fargo’s plans to keep the resort operating. A request was filed this morning asking the 2nd court to appoint a receiver to take over operations of the resort. Circuit Judge Shackley Raffeto is being asked to hear the matter on an emergency basis. The second release also announced that the lender would be creating a trust account funded by the lender and to be used by the receiver to fund resort operations. The lender also nominated a receivership team. If the courts cooperate, it appears as if the lender will be able to keep the resort up and running.
We will continue to keep an eye on developments with the Prince and the Makena Resort on The Maui Real Estate Blog.
