A real estate developer who has built shopping centers in East and West Hawaii has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Read more Shohei Ohtani’s next record-setting card? Topps introduces Back-to-Back Gold Logoman cards

A real estate developer who has built shopping centers in East and West Hawaii has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Gary L. Pinkston, developer of the Puna Kai Shopping Center and Waikoloa Plaza, in May filed a raft of lawsuits in Northern District of Georgia U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The filings were for Waikoloa Village Lofts West LLC, Waikoloa Village Lofts South LLC, Waikoloa Village Hotel HIE LLC, Waikoloa Village Hotel HIE LLC and MP Elk Grove LLC — the MP is short for Meridian Pacific.

According to a post on X — formerly known as Twitter — by RK Consultants, a boutique firm that represents debtors, creditors and trustees in bankruptcy proceedings, these cases “involve legal and financial restructuring as a debtor-in-possession.”

“Historically, the entity has been linked to the Waikoloa Plaza development project, which began planning in 2017,” the post stated. “The project was managed by Meridian Pacific Ltd. and was intended to feature a Holiday Inn Express brand.”

The cases, in which Pinkston claims $1.136 million in unsecured debt, involve a partially completed mixed-use residential and commercial development in Waikoloa Village. In addition, Pinkston filed a federal fraud suit in May in U.S. District Court in Honolulu against partners in the development, including Meridian Pacific Holdings. Pinkston is a founder of Meridian Pacific, which has offices in California and Waipahu, Oahu.

On all the bankruptcy cases, the box is checked for “funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.”

The bankruptcy filing for MP Elk Grove claims $377,820.03 in unsecured debt. The two largest listed creditors are Gregory Kamm, a Kauai-based consultant owed $118,416.57, and Alliant Insurance, owed $100,390.

The bankruptcy filing for Waikoloa Village Hotel HIE claims $236,524.46 in unsecured debt. The three largest listed creditors are Goodfellow Bros., a construction company owed $189,810.68, Modelo Tech Studio, owed $24,945.86, and the Hawaii County Property Tax Office, owed $12,792.92.

The bankruptcy filing for Waikoloa Village Hotel CWS claims $160,834.24 in unsecured debt. The two largest listed creditors are Arizona architect Stewart Reindersma, owed $130,943.83, and Hawaii County Property Tax Office, owed $29,890.41.

The bankruptcy filing for Waikoloa Village Lofts West claims $125,013.77 in unsecured debt. The three largest listed creditors are Hawaii County Property Tax Office, owed $73,461.92, Terrawatt in Waimea, owed $28,041.09, and Goodfellow Bros., owed $15,261.48.

Read more Downtown Hilo to get new streetlights

And the bankruptcy filing for Waikoloa Village Lofts South lists $236,327.18 in unsecured debt. The two largest listed creditors are Goodfellow Bros., owed $223.688.93, and Hawaii County Property Tax Office, owed $12,638.25.

All of the bankruptcy filings also list Meridian Pacific Holdings in Waipahu, Oahu, as an unsecured debt creditor, but list no monetary amount, describing Mid Pacific’s claim as “disputed, unliquidated (and) contingent.”

Waikoloa Plaza, an 18-acre shopping and entertainment hub, is a portion of an estimated $700 million master-planned project on 47 acres purchased for $24 million by Meridian Pacific in 2018.

In addition to a Holiday Inn Express, a 140-room hotel at an estimated construction cost of $65 million, developers also touted a 110-room Candlewood Suites hotel for the project at an estimated construction cost of $48 million.

Neither has been built, nor has a Foodland, which was slated to be an anchor tenant.

Waikoloa Plaza LLC filed a lawsuit against Foodland in Kona Circuit Court in November 2024, alleging the Oahu-based supermarket chain reneged on a commitment to build a store there.

Court records indicate a settlement has been reached in that case, and it appears Foodland has agreed to “build, open and operate a store” at Waikoloa Plaza “and will begin construction at a commercially reasonable time,” according to online minutes from April 10.

According to the Kansas Reflector, the 84-year-old Pinkston is seeking to build an artificial intelligence data center in Emporia, Kansas, which requires the rezoning of 1,000 acres of land recently annexed into the city.

Garrett Nordstrom, a spokesman for Pinkston, said in a statement quoted by KVOE Radio in Emporia that the bankruptcy case “does not define the broader body of work completed over the course of (Pinkston’s) career,” including a range of developments nationwide.

The data center proposal has proven controversial, as have similar proposals in other locations. According to the Kansas Reflector, more than 400 people attended a June 23 meeting of the Emporia Planning Commission, with more than 100 demonstrators outside holding signs opposed to the project — which remains on the agenda for a Wednesday commission meeting.

Read more Yamauchi RBI teams compete on mainland

Email John Burnett at [email protected].