The estate of bankrupt securities firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed court papers to foreclose on The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua resort here.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the luxury resort has been owned since 2006 by a venture of Gencom Group and Goldman Sachs Group’s Whitehall Street Global Real Estate. The venture has been in default on its $255 million mortgage for more than a year partly because of efforts to convert 107 units into condominiums.
The venture and Lehman have been negotiating for months, and talks will continue as the foreclosure case moves through the court process.
The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua includes 356 hotel rooms, plus the condominiums. Ritz-Carlton will continue to manage the resort.
The foreclosure attempt is the latest in a string of loan delinquencies and foreclosures in Hawaii, where the tourist industry has been hit hard by the recession.
