The Tahiti Mahana Beach Resort and Spa has reached a new milestone on Saturday, with French Polynesia President Edouard Fritch signing a memorandum of understanding with an international group of investors assembled in effort led by Honolulu architecture firm, Group 70 International.
Group 70 won the design competition for the 130-acre project in July 2014. For more on how it secured the design contract, estimated at $210 million, see PBN’s July 25, 2014 cover story. PBN named Group 70 chairman Francis Oda Business Leader of the Year in its 2014 Business Leadership Hawaii awards on the strength of this deal.
The investment team includes RECAS Global Limited, China Railway International Group, as well as investors from Europe, North America and Tahiti. They have pledged $2.5 billion towards the estimated construction budget of $3 billion.
“This resort is going to become the base for tourism in French Polynesia, so it was very important for us to secure an investment team that shares a unified vision of restoring the French Polynesian economy while sharing the values and traditions of the Polynesian culture,” said Group 70 Chairman Francis Oda, in a statement. “Having such world-renowned business entities such as RECAS and China Railway partnering with Tahitian and other international investors is setting the platform for this resort’s global success.”
Group 70 also announced it would open a Tahiti office, to advance its goal of including as many Tahiti and Hawaii consultants as possible as partners.
A final contract with the investors is expected in June 2016.
When completed in 2022, Tahiti Mahana Resort would be one of the largest resorts in the Pacific, comprised of five international hotels, a timeshare property, residential condominiums, a shopping mall, luxury retail stores, an aquatic park, theaters and a convention center. Many of these facilities are intended to serve Tahiti residents as well as visitors, Oda had previously told PBN.