Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which had been in talks to purchase all or part of the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu and possibly develop several new hotels there, has decided not to pursue the deal further--at least for now.
“We’ve looked at it, we’re still looking at it, but we’ve elected not to make an offer right now,” said Keith Vieira, senior vice president and director of operations for Starwood Hawaii Hotels, in a statement after talks with Kulima Resort Co., owner of Turtle Bay since 1988, ended in mid-July.
The 880-acre resort site, which currently has just one hotel, Benchmark Hospitality’s 443-room Turtle Bay Resort, was zoned over 20 years ago to allow as many as 3,500 additional hotel and condominium units. Expansion plans were dormant, however, until last year when Kulima Resort Co. began moving forward to secure permits and financing for development.
Further development of Turtle Bay is strongly opposed by a number of local community groups and state officials, who contended it would be detrimental to the North Shore’s rural character. The Hawaii Legislature recently formed a task force to study the impact of Turtle Bay expansion, and several organizations, including the Sierra Club and the Local 5 Unite Here, a hotel workers union, have filed lawsuits against Kulima Resort Co. in order to halt development.
