Should the State Buy Turtle Bay For $100M to Keep Country, Country?

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That’s what one bill before lawmakers would seem to suggest. 

Capitol Watch reports:

That’s what Senate Bill 894 calls for. Sponsored by Sen. Clayton Hee, it’s set for a hearing Tuesday (Feb. 5) in Water and Land.

A 2008 law authorized Hawaii’s governor to negotiate with private parties to purchase the resort property located in Kahuku, which is in Hee’s district.

The proposed bill argues that it is in the public interest to purchase the resort and surrounding areas in order to preserve Hawaii’s “historic and cultural heritage.” The bill would appropriate $100 million to purchase the land. The bill also calls for “exercising the State’s power of eminent domain to acquire the Property, or participating in a cooperative agreement to acquire the Property.”

UPDATE: If accomplished, it would seem to stop controversial expansions plans on the part of the resort’s current owner, Turtle Bay Resort LLC, a consortium of lenders. The resort was formerly owned by Oaktree Capital Management through its subsidiary Kuilima Resort. 

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Photo courtesy Scott McLeod.

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