State could lease
Big Isle resort landThe state Land Board approves
two more appraisers for
the Hilton Waikoloa land
The Board of Land & Natural Resources is keeping open the option to lease 1.86 acres of state land underlying a West Hawaii resort, instead of swapping it for private land of equal value.
Yesterday, the board approved getting two more appraisals of the value of the land under a portion of the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort.
Lanpar/HTL Associates, which leases the land under the Hilton Waikoloa to the hotel, objected to a state-hired appraiser's recent valuation of $2.7 million. The state lands include the Waters Edge Ballroom, the wedding chapel, a section of tram and water taxi tracks and part of the lagoons at the resort.
The board's action yesterday calls for Lanpar to hire its own appraiser. If that appraiser and the state-hired appraiser cannot agree, a third appraiser will be brought in.
The appraisers also will determine market rent. The state-hired appraiser said annual rent for the state land should be $192,000.
Based on that rate, Lanpar or the Hilton owe almost $2 million in back rent since a 1997 federal court ruling that the lands had been wrongly considered private land.
The lands are ceded lands that once belonged to the Hawaiian monarchy and are held in trust by the state. A portion of the revenue from ceded lands must go to the betterment of native Hawaiians.
"We're very pleased that after six years the board is looking at collecting rent -- that it is looking at something other than a land exchange," said Jerry Rothstein, of Public Access Shoreline Hawaii. "It's a very positive movement forward."
"There is to be a public purpose to any (state) land exchange -- and I don't believe there's any public purpose to giving a hotel a waterfront restaurant," said Alan Murakami, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. attorney representing lawsuit plaintiff Mervin "Kanak" Napeahi.
"The Hilton is occupying state land, using state land and paying rent to another party," said Rothstein.
Hilton representative Daniel Dinell told the board that his company "would like the issue resolved as expeditiously as possible."
"Lanpar/HTL has a strong commitment to trying to work toward a solution that is acceptable to all parties," its attorney Leighton Yuen told the board.