The Employees’ Retirement System, the largest pension fund in Hawaii, has sold two golf courses after an 18-year ownership. Managers for the fund sold the Royal Kaanapali and Kaanapali Kai courses to Host Hotels & Resorts, which also runs the Hyatt Regency Maui hotel that sits at the front of one of the holes.
This news comes courtesy of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, who report that the $28 million sale closed in April. The pension fund managers had planned to strive for a better return on their initial investment in the golf courses by reconfiguring all golf operations on the 305-acre property to only 27 holes and adding condos, a hotel, and other amenities. However, this plan, estimated at $373 million, was abandoned because the Covid-19 pandemic decimated Hawaii’s tourism industry and economy, and this sale was pursued instead.
Emmit Kane, the chairman of the ERS board of trustees, stated that the ERS was pleased to make the sale. Nathan Tyrell, Host’s chief investment officer, released a statement saying that Host expects the acquisition to help their near-term potential, due to synergy with a recently renovated hotel property, as well as “creative programming.”
The two courses, originally built in the late 60s and early 70s, will remain open and will operate under Host and will be managed by Indigo Golf Partners.