The former Country Club Condominium Hotel is under new management.
Earlier this year, the Banyan Drive building’s lessee at the time — a business called OceanFront 121, which took over management in 2019 — informed the state Department of Land and Natural Resources that it was unable to continue managing the aging property and intended to surrender its permit by the end of the year.
Following that announcement, the DLNR’s Land Division recommended that the department put out a request for proposals from prospective new lessees. And on Thursday, one was selected.
The Board of Land and Natural Resources at its meeting Thursday cancelled OceanFront 121’s lease and granted a month-to-month lease to Banyan Drive Management LLC.
Land Division Administrator Russell Tsuji said the new lessee will not be issued any particular requirements to improve the property during its management.
Riley Smith, the BLNR’s Big Island representative, said during the meeting that the matter is only a band-aid solution for the greater problem represented by the Country Club. The building was estimated to only have three to six years of remaining useful life in 2016, but a demolition of the building is estimated to cost more than $10 million, which the DLNR cannot afford.
While the DLNR solicited proposals to redevelop the property in 2020, the most promising applicant suffered a cascading series of financial and legal crises that ultimately led the DLNR to cancel that solicitation last year.
Little is immediately known about Banyan Drive Management LLC. Filings with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs indicate the entity was only registered on Tuesday by one Ryan Lee.
The Land Division described Banyan Drive Management in a document as “having experience in managing residential properties within the Hilo and Puna communities and is familiar with the current condition of the property.”
The land board approved the new lessee unanimously Thursday with little discussion.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
