Part I
Item 1. Business
Kaanapali Land, LLC ("Kaanapali Land"), a Delaware limited liability company, is the reorganized entity resulting from the Joint Plan of Reorganization of Amfac Hawaii, LLC (now known as KLC Land Company, LLC ("KLC Land")), certain of its subsidiaries (together with KLC Land, the "KLC Debtors") and FHT Corporation ("FHTC" and, together with the KLC Debtors, the "Debtors") under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, dated June 11, 2002 (as amended, the "Plan"). As indicated in the Plan, Kaanapali Land has elected to be taxable as a corporation.
The Plan was confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court by orders dated July 29, 2002 and October 30, 2002 (collectively, the "Order") and became effective November 13, 2002 (the "Plan Effective Date"). During August 2005, pursuant to a motion for entry of final decree, the bankruptcy cases were closed. References in this Form 10-K to Kaanapali Land or the Company for dates on or after the Plan Effective Date are to the entity surviving the Plan Effective Date under the Plan and for dates before the Plan Effective Date are to predecessor entities, unless otherwise specified.
KLC Land (formerly known as Amfac Hawaii, LLC and, previously, Amfac/JMB Hawaii, LLC) is a Hawaii limited liability company that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kaanapali Land. KLC Land and Kaanapali Land have continued the businesses formerly conducted by KLC Land and Northbrook Corporation, a Delaware corporation ("Northbrook") and their subsidiaries prior to the bankruptcy, although some of such businesses have been discontinued or reduced in scope as described herein.
Northbrook was formed in 1978 as a holding company to facilitate the purchase of a number of businesses, generally relating to short line railroads, rail car leasing and light manufacturing. Over 90% of the stock of Northbrook was purchased by persons and entities affiliated with JMB Realty Corporation, through a series of stock purchases in 1987 and 1988. One of Northbrook's subsidiaries (later merged into Northbrook) purchased the stock of Amfac, Inc. ("Amfac"), in 1988, pursuant to a public tender offer, and thus Amfac became an indirect subsidiary of Northbrook at such time. As a consequence of the merger of Amfac into Northbrook in 1995, KLC Land, FHTC and Amfac's other direct subsidiaries became direct subsidiaries of Northbrook. All existing shareholders of Northbrook contributed their shares to Pacific Trail Holdings, LLC ("Pacific Trail") in 2000. Pursuant to the Plan, Northbrook was merged into FHTC and FHTC was thereafter merged into Kaanapali Land in November 2002.
Kaanapali Land's subsidiaries include the Debtors as reorganized under the Plan, certain subsidiaries of KLC Land that were not debtors (the "Non-Debtor KLC Subsidiaries") and other former subsidiaries of Northbrook (collectively with Kaanapali Land, all the Reorganized Debtors, the Non-Debtor KLC Subsidiaries and such other subsidiaries are referred to herein as the "Company").
The Company operates in two primary business segments: (i) Property and (ii) Agriculture. The Company operates through a number of subsidiaries, each of which is owned directly or indirectly by Kaanapali Land, LLC.
Material aspects of the history and business of the Company, the Plan, the procedures for consummating the Plan and the risks attendant thereto were set forth in a Second Amended Disclosure Statement With Respect to Joint Plan of Reorganization of Amfac Hawaii, LLC, Certain of Its Subsidiaries and FHT Corporation Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, dated June 11, 2002 (the "Disclosure Statement"). The Disclosure Statement and the Plan are each filed as Exhibits to Kaanapali Land's Form 10 filed on May 1, 2003 and incorporated herein by reference.
All claims against the Debtors were deemed discharged as of the Plan Effective Date.
The Limited Liability Company Agreement of Kaanapali Land (the "LLC Agreement") provided for two classes of membership interests, "Class A Shares" and "Class B Shares", which had substantially identical rights and economic value under the LLC Agreement; except that holders of Class A Shares were represented by a "Class A Representative" who was required to approve certain transactions proposed by Kaanapali Land before they could be undertaken. The Class A Representative was further entitled to receive certain reports from the Company and meet with Company officials on a periodic basis. Reference is made to the LLC Agreement for a more detailed discussion of these provisions. Class B Shares were held by Pacific Trail and various entities and individuals that are affiliated or otherwise associated with Pacific Trail. Class A Shares were issued under the Plan to claimants who had no such affiliation. Reference is made to Item 10 below for a further explanation of the LLC Agreement.
Kaanapali Land distributed in the aggregate, approximately $1.8 million in cash and approximately 161,100 Class A Shares on account of the claims that were made under the Plan and has no further obligations to make any further distributions under the Plan.
Kaanapali Land issued all Class B Shares required to be issued under the Plan to Pacific Trail and those entities and individuals that were entitled to Class B Shares. As a consequence, Kaanapali Land had approximately 1,631,513 Class B Shares outstanding.
Pursuant to the LLC Agreement, the Class A Shares and Class B Shares were automatically redesignated as Common Shares on November 15, 2007. Accordingly, the Company's Class A Shares and Class B Shares ceased to exist separately on November 15, 2007. On April 15, 2008, the Company entered into an agreement with Stephen Lovelette ("Lovelette"), an executive vice president of the Company in charge of the Company's development activities, whereby the Company agreed to issue up to 52,000 shares of a new class of common shares (the "Class C Shares") in consideration for his services to the Company. The Class C Shares have the same rights as the Shares except that the Class C Shares will not participate in any distributions until the holders of the Shares have received aggregate distributions equal to $19 per Share, subject to customary antidilution adjustments. The Class C Shares became 50% vested on April 15, 2008, an additional 25% vested on December 31, 2008 and the remaining 25% became vested on December 31, 2009. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had approximately 1,792,613 Common shares and 52,000 Class C Shares Outstanding.
Effective June 2010, the subsidiary of KLC Land discontinued providing retiree health and life insurance benefits to retired employees. The subsidiary paid a onetime lump sum cash payment to the participants totaling approximately $85 thousand.
KLC Land is the direct subsidiary of Kaanapali Land through which the Company conducts substantially all of its remaining operations. KLC Land conducts substantially all of its business through various subsidiaries. Those with remaining assets of significant net value include KLC Holding Corp. ("KLC"), Pioneer Mill Company, LLC ("PMCo"), Kaanapali Land Management Corp. ("KLM" fka Kaanapali Development Corp.), PM Land Company, LLC. and KCF-1, LLC.
Project Planning and Development. The Company's real estate development approach, for land that it holds for development rather than investment, is designed to enhance the value of its properties in phases. In most instances, the process begins with the preparation of market and feasibility studies that consider potential uses for the property, as well as costs associated with those uses. The studies consider factors such as location, physical characteristics, demographic patterns, anticipated absorption rates, transportation, infrastructure costs, both on site and offsite, and regulatory and environmental requirements.
For any property targeted for development, the Company will generally prepare a land plan that is consistent with the findings of the studies and then commence the process of applying for the entitlements necessary to permit the use of the property in accordance with the land plan. The length and difficulty of obtaining the requisite entitlements by government agencies, as well as the cost of complying with any conditions attached to the entitlements, are significant factors in determining the viability of the Company's projects. Applications for entitlements may include, among other things, applications for state land use reclassification, county community plan amendments and changes in zoning.
Kaanapali 2020. The Company's developable lands are located on the west side of the Island of Maui in the State of Hawaii. The majority of the developable lands are located in the Kaanapali resort area. The Kaanapali development lands have been the subject of a community-based planning process that commenced in 1999 for the Kaanapali 2020 Development Plan. The Kaanapali 2020 Development Plan includes a mix of resort recreation, residential units and some commercial and recreational development sites, as well as affordable housing. While the oceanfront resort properties have been sold, most of the other Kaanapali 2020 lands continue to be owned by the Company. Any development plan for any of the Company's land, including the Kaanapali 2020 Development Plan and the Wainee development, will be subject to approval and regulation by various state and county agencies and governing entities, especially insofar as the nature and extent of zoning, and improvements necessary for site infrastructure, building, transportation, water management, environmental and health are concerned. In Hawaii, the governmental entities have the right to impose limits or controls on growth in their communities through restrictive zoning, density reduction, impact fees and development requirements, which may materially affect utilization of the land and the costs associated with developing the land. In addition, Maui County requires, among other things, that up to fifty percent of new residential units qualify as affordable housing and therefore be sold at below market prices which could adversely affect the profitability of future projects and render them unfeasible. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in obtaining the necessary zoning and related entitlements for development of any currently unentitled Maui lands. At this time, the only Kaanapali 2020 lands that have sufficient entitlements to commence development are those in Phase I of the Kaanapali Coffee Farms development and the Puukolii Village development, as described below.
The current regulatory approval process for a development project takes a number of years or more and involves substantial expense. The applications generally require the submission of comprehensive plans that involve the use of consultants and other professionals. A substantial portion of the Company's Kaanapali 2020 land will require state district boundary amendments and county general plan and community plan amendments, as well as rezoning approvals. There is no assurance that all necessary approvals and permits will be obtained with respect to the current projects or future projects of the Company. Generally, entitlements are extremely difficult to obtain in Hawaii. There is often significant opposition to proposed developments from numerous groups including native Hawaiians, environmental organizations, various community and civic groups, condominium associations and politicians advocating no-growth policies, among others. Any such group with standing can challenge submitted applications, which may substantially delay the process. Generally, once the applications are deemed acceptable, the various governing agencies involved in the entitlement process commence consideration of the requested entitlements. The applicable agencies often impose conditions, which may be costly and time consuming, on any approvals of the entitlements. The substantial time and expense of obtaining entitlements and the uncertainty of success in obtaining the entitlements could have a material adverse effect on the Company's success.
At the state level, all land in Hawaii is divided into four land use classifications: urban, rural, agricultural and conservation. The majority of the Kaanapali 2020 Development Plan land is currently classified as either agricultural or conservation.
A relatively small portion (approximately 300 acres) of the Kaanapali 2020 Development Planning area owned by the Company, known as Puukolii Village, comprised of two parcels known as the Puukolii Triangle and Puukolii Mauka, received entitlements in 1993 under the terms of a superseded law that fast tracked entitlements for planned mixed use developments that contained the requisite percentage of affordable housing units. The requirements imposed on the Company relative to these entitlements proved uneconomic and thus the developments were not pursued. The Company proposed revisions to the development agreement with the applicable state agencies and is beginning to plan for the development of the Puukolii Mauka area, which will, if ultimately developed, include certain affordable and market housing units, a small commercial area, a school, a park and associated improvements. In January 2009 the Company received approval of its proposed revisions to the development agreement.