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Foreclosure sought
on Hyatt hotel in Waikiki
A Gibraltar corporation has filed a foreclosure action in Hawaii on the 1,230-room Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa.
In a state Circuit Court complaint filed on July 23, Beecher Ltd. alleged that Japan-based Azabu Buildings Co. owes more than $34 million as a result of a 1993 judgment that Beecher obtained in Japan.
Beecher is asking that a commission be appointed to sell the Hyatt hotel, and the proceeds be used to pay off the debt. The value of the hotel far exceeds the debt claimed in the suit.
The suit was filed days after Azabu announced that it was selling the 1,250-room Ala Moana Hotel for an undisclosed price. Beecher said that Azabu had made payments but stopped doing so in November 1999.
Beecher has since requested that Azabu pay back the full amount of the debt but has failed to do so.
An Azabu spokesman had no immediate comment.
The Hyatt Regency Waikiki was part of a 1980s buying spree by Azabu, which spent roughly $600 million on Hawaii hotels, including the Ala Moana, the Kona Lagoon and the Maui Marriott.
Beecher is headed by Boise, Idaho, investor Peter Wachtell.
According to court papers filed by Beecher, a Tokyo judge ruled in 1993 that Azabu owed lender Mitsui Trust & Banking Co. more than ¥4 trillion, or about $34 million in today's dollars.
Beecher said that it acquired the judgment from Mitsui and obtained a writ of enforcement of the judgment from a Hawaii judge in 2001.