The owner of the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua said its plan to sell 107 suites as condominiums in the 463-unit Maui hotel has resulted in 93 purchases for an average $1.9 million.

The effort, which represented $176 million in total sales and included selling the hotel's "Presidential Suite" for $6.4 million, is the latest in a wave of condotel conversions in Hawai'i whereby hotels or parts of hotels have been sold by the room to investors.

At Kapalua, selling one wing of the Ritz-Carlton was a strategy to pay for a $160 million renovation of the 16-year-old luxury property by owners that include Gencom Group and Maui Land & Pineapple Co.

The sale initiative also is part of a broader redevelopment plan at Kapalua Resort that includes the hotel renovation and construction of 84 new condominiums as a mix of luxury time-shares and whole-ownership condos.

The Gencom-led partnership initially announced its plan to renovate the hotel and offer 107 one-bedroom and two-bedroom units for sale in January 2007. Under the plan, many hotel units were enlarged with an extra bedroom and kitchenettes, which in turn reduced the hotel's number of units from 548 to 463. Renovation work was completed while the hotel was closed from July to December.

Over the past year or so, the partnership solicited buyers to reserve units through nonbinding commitments. On Saturday, project broker S&P Destination Properties held an event to convert reservations to binding sale contracts.

Jerry Landeck, Gencom Group senior partner, in a statement issued yesterday announcing results of the purchase event, said the project was a "tremendous success."

Robert Webber, Maui Land & Pine chief operating officer, in a statement added, "We are very pleased with the market's response to this product, and welcome a new generation of owners to the Kapalua Resort."

An S&P Destination spokes-man said the 14 unsold units will be remarketed at somewhat increased prices, which previously started at $895,000 for the lowest-priced unit.

S&P Destination said 60 percent of the buyers were domestic, including many from Hawai'i and California. The balance was from international buyers from Japan, Canada and Europe.

Buyers can determine how they use their units, which could include living in them or renting them to vacationers through Ritz-Carlton.

The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua was developed in 1992 for $206 million by Japan-based Nissho Iwai Corp. in a joint venture with Ritz-Carlton Co. and Maui Land & Pine.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.