Tatibouet's home sold
The Diamond Head mansion had been on the block since 2004
The former Diamond Head home of hotelier Andre Tatibouet was sold last week to real estate developer Stephen Metter.
Metter, a principal and chief executive officer of MW Group Ltd., acquired the 12,799-square-foot mansion on Noela Street after a group of private investors who won the house in a January bankruptcy auction couldn't close on the deal.
Thomas Foley, attorney for the group of investors, who bid under the name BST Waikiki, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
The sale of the home was a key part in the financial reorganization of Tatibouet, who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in April 2005 to block the foreclosure of his last hotel, once known as the Coral Reef, by Central Pacific Bank.
BST loaned Tatibouet $400,000 to pay off his debt and renovate the Coral Reef last summer.
The investors transferred their contract to purchase the home to Metter, who was a prospective buyer during Tatibouet's bankruptcy proceedings, but never actually bid on the home.
The sale closed on Feb. 23.
"I feel that it's a very fair price," said Metter, who bought the home for a little less than the $7.5 million winning bid made by BST. "We're looking forward to living in that house and making it our family compound."
Chuck Choi, Tatibouet's attorney, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
The six-bedroom home has been on and off the market for the past two years.
The house initially failed to attract any bidders in a sealed-bid bankruptcy auction.
The house was first listed for $19.875 million in November 2004. The price later dropped to $16.9 million, then $13.7 million. Lenders had initially required the house, built in 2001, to be sold for no less than $12.8 million, then lowered the price to $9.8 million.
According to bankruptcy filings, Tatibouet's failed attempt to sell the mansion, designed to resemble Lanai's Lodge at Koele, resulted in his default on a $40.5 million interim loan to repay creditors of the home and former Coral Reef. The property is now known as the Aqua Waikiki Wave Hotel.
The result was the forced transfer of the hotel in lieu of foreclosure.