Honolulu’s Group 70 International Inc., which won a design contract to help develop a $5 billion resort project in Tahiti, has submitted its team of investors from the United States, Tahiti, China, France and Mexico to the French Polynesia government for the planned 130-acre project, the chairman of the architecture firm told PBN.
The total cost to develop the Tahiti Mahana Beach Resort and Spa, one of the largest resorts being built in the Pacific, is pegged at $5 billion, of which $3 billion is what’s being estimated for construction costs.
Group 70’s part of the contract is about $210 million, when tabulating a design fee of 7 percent, which comes out to being single-largest contract the Hawaii firm as ever landed.
What’s more is that it beat out 76 other international competitors for the chance to design and oversee construction of the entire project.
“This is one more step in the process,” Francis Oda, chairman of Group 70, told PBN Tuesday by phone from Tahiti. “The government asked us to raise the $3 billion for the project, and at first, I thought it was a joke, but we went out and literally raised $3 billion.”
The investors include:
- Five significant Tahitian companies: Le groupe 3 Brasseurs, Imagine Promotion, La Societe Polynesienne des Eaux, Enterprise MT2, and La Societe GAZ de Tahiti;
- Vinci: A global concession and construction group that designs, finances, builds and operates infrastructure and facilities;
- Cofely Polynesia: A subsidiary of GDF Suez, one of the largest independent power producers in the world;
- Aquakita: The largest developer of waterparks in the world, owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.
- Beauty Legend Holding Ltd.: A large and diversified real estate and energy group from China.
Group 70 also noted that it is in discussions with additional local and international investors.
“We have about four and a half months to put our detailed proposal together,” Oda said. “Most of the investors found us. I went to China to meet with the Chinese group, but outside of that, most of them found us.”
Group 70 was selected by jury as the architect, interior designer and civil engineer on record. CBRE Group Inc. (NYSE: CBG) will provide financial and project management services.
The Mahana Beach waterfront project includes five international class hotels, a timeshare, condominiums, a marina, a retail mall, an aquatic park, a casino, a convention center, theaters and luxury retail shops.
Group 70 anticipates breaking ground on the project this year with a targeted completion in 2021.