Movie mogul buys
172-acre Kauai site

Star-Bulletin staff

LIHUE -- A Hollywood film producer has bought a 172-acre parcel on Kauai that had been slated for subdivision development as a gated community.

Peter Guber, through his movie company Mandalay Entertainment, bought the Papaa Bay Ranch for $7.25 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Papaa Bay Development Inc., headed by Ronald Yanki who is developing a nearby subdivision, paid $4.23 million for the property in December 1996.

The firm planned to initially sell 20 lots, with some one-acre bay parcels priced at $1.1 million, the Journal reported.

The northeast Kauai property was used as a location last fall for Walt Disney Co.'s "6 Days, 7 Nights," starring Harrison Ford and Anne Heche.

Guber, a former Sony Pictures' executive, wasn't involved in the film's production but visited the site late last year and was "impressed with the view," said a local real estate broker. Guber couldn't be reached for comment about his plans for the property.

However he approached county officials in December about keeping a couple of elaborate pavilion-type structures built for the movie set, according to a county planner.

The subdivision application, which had not yet been approved, was withdrawn in early February after the sale.