Land under
Hilton Waikoloa
sold for $115M

Hilton Hotels Corp. will pay $115 million for the land under the 1,241-room Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island.

Hilton said yesterday it is acquiring the fee interest to the 65-acre resort from Lanpar/HTL Associates in a deal that's expected to close in the next several months.

The resort's lease was to expire in 2061.

"Acquiring the land under the Hilton Waikoloa Village enables us to control all aspects of one of our most important and successful hotel assets," said Matthew Hart, Hilton's president and chief operating officer. "Hawaii ... continues to be an extremely vibrant market, with our Oahu and Big Island hotel properties reporting high occupancies and very strong room rates."

Built in 1988 by developer Chris Hemmeter at a cost of about $400 million, the Hilton Waikoloa Village is one of the top hotels along the Kohala Coast and features a salt water lagoon, a 25,000-square-foot spa and three swimming pools with waterfalls and water slides.

It's also known for its Dolphin Quest facility, where guests can play with captive dolphins.

Hilton said that it is building and marketing 120 two-bedroom time-share units at the Waikoloa resort and has plans for future time-share development.

Hilton has managed the property since 1993. At that time, the hotel operator owned about 13 percent of the hotel but Hilton acquired the remaining 87 percent of the Waikoloa from Pan Global Partners of Taiwan in 2002 for about $155 million.