Molokai Ranch parent
purchasing Kaluakoi
Resort property

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

Molokai Ranch Ltd., already by far the biggest land owner on Molokai, will soon take over the 4,100-acre property that houses the Kaluakoi Resort at the west end of the island.

The owner, Kukui (Molokai) Inc., has agreed to sell it to Molokai Ranch's parent, Singapore-headquartered Brierley Investments Inc., according to Scott Whiting, ranch president. The price was not disclosed.

Kukui (Molokai), a subsidiary of Japan-based Tokyo Kosan Ltd., closed the 198-room hotel and 18-hole golf course in January, laying off 99 people. It had been trying to sell the property for the past two years.

In addition to the hotel and the golf course, the property has three condominium projects, more than 300 homesites and several large tracts of land, totaling about 1,600 acres, which are available for future development, Whiting said.

"Our intent is to bring in other investor-partners whose development goals at Kaluakoi Resort are complementary to ours," he said.

The goal is to bring financial stability to that end of the island to help build Molokai's overall economic platform, Whiting said.

He said today that it is too soon to predict the future of the hotel or the golf course. Even before they were closed they were not in good condition and have since deteriorated, he said.

Right now, the goal is to look into improving the infrastructure, such as the long-stalled nine-mile water line project that Kukui (Molokai) abandoned.

"It has been languishing so long" that the ranch decided to step in and buy it, he said. "We think we are in a position now, being able to address some of the infrastructure issues, that we can attract other investors in."

Buying the property leaves the ranch with "a big load to carry" and getting help from other investors will be crucial, he said.

The deal is expected to close later this month.

Molokai Ranch has more than 53,000 acres of land, mostly at the west end of the island. Its headquarters are in the former pineapple town Maunaloa, where it has a tourist lodge and has developed home sites.