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Hawaii theme park
foreclosures contested

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By Tim Ruel
Star-Bulletin

Attorneys representing the owners of Waimea Valley Adventure Park and Sea Life Park said they are pursuing two methods of attack to stop the recently approved foreclosure sale of the Oahu properties.

The owners will seek an immediate appeal of a ruling by First Circuit Judge Karen Blondin that reinstated the long-stalled foreclosure on the properties by Bank of Hawaii, attorney Denise Sangster said yesterday. Following the ruling, Judge Blondin in January appointed Guido Giacometti to sell the two parks.

This week, the owners will also go to First Circuit Judge Gary Chang to try to enforce their original 1996 agreement with Bankoh that had staved off foreclosure against the properties in the first place, attorney Gary Levitt said.

Foreclosure carries a stigma that is unfair to the owners and discourages buyers, Levitt said. "The parks were not in default. They (the owners) were making their monthly mortgage payments," he said.

The owners, led by New York businessman Christian Wolffer, have another impetus to act soon. The city is in preliminary talks with Giacometti to buy the Waimea property for $5.1 million, way under the property's $25 million asking price. The City Council has scheduled a vote for Feb. 21 to fund such a purchase, Budget Chairwoman Rene Mansho said yesterday.

The owners would rather have the property on the open market, Sangster said. "This will be resolved," she said.

A Bank of Hawaii spokeswoman declined comment yesterday, saying client matters are confidential.

The issues between the owners and Bank of Hawaii stretch back five years ago, when Wolffer led a group of investors to take control of the partnership that owned the two parks, assuming $12 million in mortgages and debt owed to Bank of Hawaii, Levitt said.

Bankoh had already initiated foreclosure against the parks before the 1996 buyout, but agreed to hold off if the new owners kept current on payments and bought the debt by June 30 of last year. However, a dispute arose over the amount the owners would have to pay Bankoh for the mortgages. Wolffer thought it was $498,000 while the bank had it around $4.3 million, Levitt said. Shortly before June 30, the owners sued to have a court decide the debt amount, Levitt said. That case is in the fact-finding stage of discovery.

Also, in August, Wolffer and the owners put the 1,875-acre Waimea property up for sale at $25 million. The offering does not include the Sea Life Park in Waimanalo, though the owners are willing to hear bids on that property, Levitt said.

Soon after, Bank of Hawaii again initiated foreclosure proceedings.

In the meantime, both Waimea Valley and Sea Life Park remain open under the same management, Sangster said.

If the owners successfully appeal and stop foreclosure again, they still aren't out of the woods. Mansho said any buyer would have to promise to keep Waimea Valley open to the public, or face condemnation proceedings by the city.

The threat of such a move makes a sale to a private party highly unlikely, Sangster said.

Mansho acknowledged that fact, but said Waimea Valley has too much historical, educational and cultural value to be closed to the public. She said the city's purchase has the unanimous support of the Council. "We can afford it."

The city's plan for the park, which would include the hiring of a private management entity, should be available to the public by March, Mansho said.

She noted the city is not interested in Sea Life Park, a leasehold property that sits on land owned by the state.