A bankruptcy judge approved a preliminary plan to bring a long-stalled Hawaii resort development out of bankruptcy under the control of an investment group that includes the chairman of retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris on Friday signed off on the disclosure document for the developer of the Hokuli'a project on Hawaii's Big Island. The Hokuli'a project is a partnership between William A. Pope, the owner of California real estate investment firm SunChase Holdings, and S. Robson Walton, Wal-Mart's chairman. The chapter 11 plan, backed by $65 million in exit financing from a SunChase affiliate, would bring the real estate project, long dogged by legal challenges and financial woes, out of bankruptcy.
