The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua has for a second time extended its deadline to pull out as management company of the troubled Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay.
The company said that it has pushed back that date to Dec. 31 from a previous Monday deadline.
The Ritz-Carlton now appears to want to keep the project under its brand.
"We continue to evaluate all options to retain The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Kapalua Bay in our brand portfolio and to continue to provide the legendary Ritz-Carlton service to owners and members at this property," Ed Kinney, vice president of public relations for The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, said in an email to The Maui News.
"We look forward to continuing to work with the developer, the lenders and the associations to come to a long-term resolution for the club and residences that best serves the owners and members and that will allow us to move forward together toward a positive future," he said.
The company had initially told owners at the project that it would no longer manage the property after Sept. 10 "as a result of insufficient funding of ongoing operating costs."
Owners of 10 of the residence condominiums sued in June, alleging that the developer has "allowed the project to fall into disarray."
The lawsuit alleges that the developer was responsible for paying its share of the common area maintenance fees for the project's unsold condominium units, but that it stopped paying earlier this year, "thereby rendering the (apartment owners' association) and the project woefully underfunded."
The lack of operating funds for the homeowners association triggered The Ritz-Carlton's termination notice.
Separate from the lawsuit, lenders for the project foreclosed on the property in June in 1st Circuit Court.
Project developer Kapalua Bay LLC - a joint venture among affiliates of Maui Land & Pineapple Co., Exclusive Resorts and Marriott International - owes more than $304 million in principal and interest on the property, which opened in mid-2009 on the site of the former Kapalua Bay Hotel.
As a result of the foreclosure action, 56 residential condominiums along with 567 fractional-ownership interests in 62 time-share units will be sold at auction at noon Dec. 3 in Honolulu. The sale also will include leasehold interest in The Shops at Kapalua.
The assets will be sold as one piece, according to Honolulu attorney George Van Buren, the court-appointed commissioner in the foreclosure case.
* Nanea Kalani can be reached at nkalani@mauinews.com.
