With the closure of the three-decade-old Makena Beach & Golf Resort on Friday, construction will begin later this year on the $240 million Makena Golf & Beach Club, a high-end condominium project with a private beachfront community and club.

Company officials said that initial components of the project could be completed in 2018.

Arizona-based Discovery Land Co., which has been selected by resort owner ATC Makena Holdings to manage the development, said work to convert the 310-room hotel will begin once the hotel closure is completed and permits are approved, which should be sometime this year.

The entire hotel property will become a construction zone.

The six-story hotel was built by Japan-based developers Seibu Hawaii and opened in 1986 as the Maui Prince Hotel and has undergone several ownership changes since then. Over the years, the hotel, recognized for its Asian meditation garden and ponds filled with colorful carp, was a place for weddings for island couples as well as for meetings and conventions.

It also was famous for its Sunday champagne brunch and the former Hakone Sushi Bar & Restaurant.

About 310 workers lost their jobs with the resort closure Friday. Seventy-five employees will remain employed with the development’s Makena Golf Course, golf course restaurant, landscaping and security operations. Those employees are in the process of being transitioned to the new business, Discovery Land officials said.

Construction work is expected to generate 400 new construction jobs, developers said. After the condo project is completed, there will be 248 full-time employees and 74 part-time workers.

Plans involve converting the hotel into 50 units – 12 single story, two- to four-bedroom penthouses; two single-story, two- and three-bedroom units; and 36, two-story four- and five-bedroom units, according to county Planning Department documents.

The rooftop will include 12 terraces and photovoltaic panels.

New structures include multifamily condominiums, five spa hale, nine beach cottages and a 76-unit hotel.

Discovery Land officials have said that daily room rates at the new 76-room hotel would be higher than current rates at the Makena resort and will be comparable to the luxury Wailea hotels.

The residential units would range from $1.9 million to $6 million per unit, developers have said.

The changes to the resort were necessary to make it economically viable, Discovery Land officials told the Maui Planning Commission in 2014 when they sought a special management area use permit for the project. The Maui Planning Commission OK’d the permit.

In 2014, developers said loses were $20 million or more since ATC Makena Holdings took control of the property in 2010.

ATC Makena purchased the resort for $95 million, according to the hotel’s website. The property was in foreclosure in 2009 after Maui developer Everett Dowling and Morgan Stanley Real Estate defaulted on a $192.5 million loan.

Dowling and other investors bought the resort for a reported price of $575 million after economic developments in Japan strained Seibu’s investment capabilities. It reportedly was the highest price paid for a Maui hotel.

As the construction begins, the resort’s Makena North Golf Course will remain open – but to members only. Renovations were completed in 2015, and the course reopened as a membership course with a clubhouse facility.

There also are plans for development on the Kihei side. ATC Makena is working on its final environmental assessment for a $355 million project proposed on vacant land between Makena Alanui Road, mauka of the site, and Makena-Keoneoio Road, also known as Old Makena Road, makai.

Plans call for a 158-residential and commercial project on 47 acres. Buildings proposed are two to four stories high, with taller structures closer to Makena Alanui Road. Plans include commercial and recreational areas, swimming pools and open space.

Project officials said in May that they hoped the environmental study would be completed this month or next month.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.