Delinquent developer is granted extension

A Honolulu company struggling to secure financing to develop the Waikiki Landing at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor and owes the state nearly half a million dollars in back rent escaped having its lease with the state terminated Friday.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources, in a 5-1 decision, reluctantly voted Friday to give Honey Bee USA another chance to come up with $35 million in financing. The company has until Nov. 15 to come up with the money, or the lease will be canceled.

“For me this is the end,” said board member Stanley Roehrig, who came to the developer’s aid in negotiating an extension as three other board members suggested that they were ready to terminate the lease Friday.

Honey Bee is planning to develop a boat repair facility, a fuel dock, restaurants, entertainment venues and wedding chapels on the property.

The board decision was made in spite of a recommendation from the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation that the lease be immediately canceled. This is the third time that the division has recommended that the board sever its lease with the company.

Honey Bee hasn’t paid rent on the state property since March and owes $425,890 in rent and service charges, plus interest. The company has also failed to proffer up a performance bond worth nearly $1 million, in violation of its lease agreement.

Honey Bee, which was selected by the state to develop the property through a competitive bidding proc-ess in 2009, is also behind schedule. The project is supposed to be completed in December.

Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation staff say that the company has turned in five different loan proposals, and none of them have come to fruition.

Honey Bee says its latest funder is ICON Commercial Lending Inc., based in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.

ICON was supposed to deliver on a $35 million loan in August but didn’t.

Honey Bee’s Deron Akiona told the board Friday that the company will now deliver the funding sometime in October.

The money is sitting in a Hong Kong bank, but because of disruptions in the Chinese market, ICON has had trouble getting it released to a mainland bank, said Akiona. He acknowledged that ICON hasn’t shown any proof that it actually has access to the funds.

“I want to see if (ICON) can perform,” said Akiona. “I want to see them come through with the financing.”

Honey Bee says it has so far spent $4.7 million on project development costs and signed 32 leases with businesses interested in relocating to the site.

Even if ICON does come through with the funding, the Land Board could still vote to not approve the Utah company as a partner in the venture. The funding agreement with Honey Bee gives ICON a 50 percent equity stake in the company.

Officials said that they’re worried ICON doesn’t have the experience or financial background to execute the project.

“The concern we had is that we don’t have anything to show ICON has actually developed anything,” administrator Ed Underwood said after the meeting.

The Waikiki Landing development is the only project listed on ICON’s website.

Board Chairwoman Suzanne Case was the only member to vote against extending the deadline for Honey Bee to come up with financing, though other board members expressed serious reservations about the deal.

“What I’m hearing is not giving me a great deal of hope,” said board member Chris Yuen, who characterized the lender as mysterious. “I think (Honey Bee) is operating on the basis of hope at this point.”