On Friday, December 15, I attended The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas 2017 Annual Homeowners/Board meeting held at the Sheraton Maui Hotel beginning at 8am.
Following you will find questions, answers and additional general information:
Question was asked to clarify and a request to notify owners of the two tax situations affecting Westin Kaanapali timeshare owners.
The first issue: The lawsuit that was won by KOR, was regarding special assessment of property taxes for Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas North and South Villas.The $10.7M + attorney fees (about $500k) was won by KOR (Kaanapali Ocean Resort). Maui County is appealing and the money is being held in escrow.
The second issue: Regarding the lawsuit from 2 years ago which is about the assessed valuation for timeshare properties on Maui. A new court date has been set for January 8, 2018 and is expected to take 2 to 4 weeks with a jury trial.
Question: What is the % of inventory owned by the Resort? Answer: There are 28k total intervals. The South section has about 800 intervals which equals 4 ½% and the North section has 968 intervals which equals 5 ½%.
Question: Are there plans to move the resort owned units to points? Answer: Westin Nanea, Westin Aventura, Laguna Mar, Cabo, Sheraton Garden Vacation Owner will move to the Sheraton Flex System. Desert Willow Resort will move to points. There will not be a force conversion to points.
Following you will see a six year history of Maintenance Fees was presented. Copy below:
Question regarding the status of the micro-turbine. Answer: The resort is awaiting Maui Electric to do final approval which should be any time now. The turbine will benefit both North and South and will help cut the cost of heating for water, pool and rooms.
Question: Regarding the status of the Lahaina by-pass. As reported by Maui Now on December 14 following is a copy of the status of the project:
“The Lahaina Bypass project from Olowalu to Keawe Street is slated for completion in March according to Ed Sniffen, Deputy Director for Highways at the state Department of Transportation.
The project was highlighted during an update of DOT projects currently underway and on tap across the state.
“In Maui County, the big project that we have right now is the Lahaina Bypass. The Lahaina Bypass project is going to finish up in 9-10 months total… that gives us a bypass that extends from Olowalu all the way to Keawe Street to bypass Lahaina town. In March of this year, we will cut traffic over from the Lower Honoapiʻilani Highway onto the bypass”, said Sniffen.
General information:
West Maui Hospital will be opening in late 2018 which will be providing a 24 hour emergency room and will encompass a 53K square foot medical campus.
Hawaiian Airlines began service to Kapalua Airport earlier this year and Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas is providing a shuttle service from the airport to the resort. This is something for all Westin timeshare owners to consider during the upcoming busy season and year round!
SPECIAL NOTE: The following information was not discussed at the meeting but I think is of interest to all Westin timeshare owners:
As many already know, the Lahaina Cannery Mall is going through a major renovation which is expected to be completed in the Fall 2018. Of special interest is the Safeway Supermarket which is expanding its space from 36,000 sq. ft. to 60,000 sq. ft.
Syed Sarmad, Principal Broker or Advantage Vacation
