Former HBO chief executive Michael Fuchs has put together a tentative deal that lets him retain a bit of ownership in a troubled $100 million luxury home subdivision he started on the Big Island eight years ago.

Fuchs, who placed the proj­ect, called Ke Kai­lani, into bankruptcy in January to block a foreclosure auction, filed a reorganization plan last week that involves a Colo­rado-based firm paying off creditors fully and resuming development work.

The Colorado company, Resource Management Interests LLC, proposes to invest $42 million in return for 95 percent ownership, leaving Fuchs with a 5 percent stake.

If the deal is consummated, it would avoid a foreclosure auction through which an affiliate of Texas-based development firm Hunt Cos. was trying to acquire and finish the proj­ect.

Fuchs, through a representative, declined to comment on the reorganization plan.

Bankruptcy filings state that Fuchs has lost more than $35 million of his own money on the proj­ect. However, holding onto a small stake would represent something of a victory for Fuchs considering he has waged a contentious fight to stave off foreclosure.

“The property itself is a unique luxury development, the culmination of Mr. Fuchs’ life ambition to create a secure, one-of-a-kind residential community in which he planned to live,” the bankruptcy reorganization plan states.

Fuchs bought the 65-acre site fronting three golf fairways at Mauna Lani Resort for $15.5 million in 2002 with an eye to building a home for himself. As a way to offset the hefty cost of the land and infrastructure, he planned to develop 12 condominiums and 39 house lots for sale.

Project features included condo kitchens designed by Hawaii celebrity chef Alan Wong; a community clubhouse with a saltwater pool overlooking the ocean; and a 5.5-acre inland park with a freshwater pond, pools, a hula mound, jogging trail and courts for basketball, tennis and sand volleyball.

Sales, however, faltered with the economic recession after a strong early start that included selling one oceanfront lot for $8.5 million in 2005 and two condos that went for nearly $4 million each in 2007.

In all, Fuchs was able to sell 14 lots and two condos for a combined $38 million, according to property rec­ords. But Fuchs’ development loans fell into default in 2008 after sales stalled.

Lenders Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank and Finance Factors Ltd. initiated foreclosure in October 2009, claiming that $52 million in loans made to Fuchs had an unpaid and overdue balance of $22 million.

According to bankruptcy filings, Fuchs tried to refinance the loans, and at one point was working with Hunt to rescue the proj­ect and limit his personal liability for the loans. But a dispute between Fuchs and Hunt led Hunt to purchase the loans from the lenders and push ahead with a foreclosure auction.

Fuchs blocked the auction in January by seeking bankruptcy protection. Attorneys for Hunt tried to get the bankruptcy case dismissed at a hearing last month, claiming that Fuchs was improperly using bankruptcy to stall foreclosure.

Gary Dubin, an attorney representing Fuchs, responded at the February hearing that investors were prepared to infuse $50 million in Ke Kai­lani. Dubin declined to identify the investors but said a deal could be done by March 28.

“We think this is a particularly viable solution to everybody’s problem,” Dubin said at the hearing.

Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King expressed skepticism at the refinancing deal but allowed Fuchs time to cement the purported arrangement after Fuchs spent $300,000 to reduce debts for Ke Kai­lani residents and Hawaii County and agreed to pay Hunt $150,000 for the delay.

In the reorganization plan filed yesterday, Fuchs’ attorneys said a $47.5 million refinancing commitment from Sumi­tomo Bank fell apart following the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan earlier this month.

The plan said the pres­ent $42 million refinancing deal is contingent on Resource Management obtaining a $26 million loan to pay off creditors. The $16 million balance would be a line of credit used to resume development.

The reorganization plan is subject to bankruptcy court approval and other conditions.

Fuchs and Resource Management anticipate finishing the proj­ect over four years and selling remaining lots and condos for $157 million and returning $33 million to the new lender and $12 million to the developer.