Savio buys Maui Beach Hotel to expand his Pagoda brand

Local developer Peter Savio plans to expand his Pagoda hotel brand to Maui with the purchase of the Maui Beach Hotel, an adjacent golf course and a vacant lot where the circa-1953 Maui Palms Hotel once stood.

The deal, which is expected to close June 27 for an undisclosed sum, was announced to Maui Beach Hotel employees on Wednesday. Savio said he plans to retain all 60 to 70 of the employees at the property, which is on the shores of the Kahului Harbor. Workers at the property, which is managed by Aqua Hotels and Resorts, belong to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142.

"The union has been supportive of the sale," Savio said, adding that when his plans to build a new 155-room hotel on the Maui Palms site go through more jobs will be created.

"The Maui Beach will keep its name and join the other hotels in the Pagoda Collection, which includes the White Sands Hotel and the Ewa Waikiki Hotel in Waikiki," Savio said.

The new property, which Savio envisions as a six- or seven-story pagoda-shaped tower, would bear the Pagoda branding in its actual name.

"Maui zoning doesn’t favor that design, but I’d like to discuss it," said Savio, who would like to create a landmark economy hotel property like Honolulu’s Pagoda Hotel and Floating Restaurant, which he purchased from HTH Corp. in 2010.

Regardless of the final design, Savio said both hotels will cater primarily to locals and college students.