The Fate Of Lanai Hinges On A Los Angeles Real Estate Tycoon

[ellisonz]

By Sophie Cocke 12/12/2011

Sophie Cocke/Civil Beat

Lanai residents’ anxiety is mounting and Maui County officials are scrambling for information after months of rumors and a recent announcement that Lanai’s billionaire owner, David Murdock, has put the island up for sale.

“The anxiety level is quite high because nobody can give any assurance that anything good is going to come out of this,” said Pat Reilly, a retired school counselor and longtime Lanai resident.

Murdock has propped up the island’s economy for more than two decades. But he may be pulling out in the face of bitter opposition over Big Wind – a project that could bring in millions of dollars for Murdock’s Castle & Cooke, the development company that manages the Lanai operation. Supporters of the project, particularly the unions, argue that Big Wind is critical to Lanai's economy because it would stop the company's financial hemhorraging and create jobs.

-------

Not everyone is convinced that it’s sellable. And with Castle & Cooke losing $20 million to $40 million annually on its Lanai properties, some fear that the company might just shut down its operations.

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2011/12/12/14032-the-fate-of-lanai-hinges-on-a-los-angeles-real-estate-tycoon/

Molokai Ranch Redux? Hopefully they'll subdivide the parcel for residents and for an eco-tourism industry. I'm really against Big Wind though; stupid and short sighted plan. I really like the idea of biodiesel for Hawaii. Sorghum could be grown in old sugarcane fields and used for vehicles and electricity generation with a lesser imprint than the wind projects will do to the bird population.