Clergy Abuse Survivors, Others Hope for Offers Higher Than $5.6m for Former Accion Hotel

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
May 31, 2019

https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/local/2019/05/30/accion-hotel-guam-church-property-sale-bids/1283459001/

Prospective buyers can make offers on the former Accion Hotel in Yona up to Aug. 8, which is the eve of a federal court hearing on the Archdiocese of Agana's ongoing bankruptcy case.

Proceeds of the property sale will go toward paying more than 200 Guam clergy sex abuse claims against the archdiocese, which filed for reorganization bankruptcy protection in January.

The archdiocese, through Idaho-based Attorney Ford Elsaesser, agreed with creditors' request to extend the purchase period, but told the court on Friday about the risk of losing the cash offers that are already on the table.

2 purchase offers

These are the $5.35 million from TF Investment LLC, and $5.6 million from Dr. Saied Safabakhsh, a nephrologist and owner of dialysis centers on Guam.

TF Investment's president is Chieng Tan, who is also president of GPPC Inc., which has been a longtime contractor on Guam, Saipan and other parts of Micronesia.

Safabakhsh, known in the community as "Dr. Safa," intends to turn the former Yona hotel into a clinic, according to real estate broker Alliance Realty LLC.

Both TF Investment and Safabakhsh made an earnest deposit of $100,000 each, and both are ready to close the deal as soon as the federal court approves the sale, Elsaesser said.

Minnesota-based Attorney Edwin Caldie, counsel for the unsecured creditors committee that includes clergy sex abuse survivors, asked the court for a 120-day or four-month period to continue to find buyers for the property for a higher price.

"We do not believe the property was robustly marketed internationally," Caldie told the court.

The archdiocese listed the Yona property in 2018 for $7.5 million.

The former Accion Hotel and Redemptoris Mater Seminary property in Yona, April 8, 2019. (Photo: Frank San Nicolas/PDN)

Judge weighs concerns

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood granted the creditors' request for more time to market the archdiocese property both locally and internationally to get the highest possible purchase price, but only for a two-month period, after hearing the archdiocese's concerns about losing the offers that are already on the table.

Tydingco-Gatewood set a hearing on the archdiocese property sale for 8:30 a.m. Aug. 9.

This means purchase offers can still be accepted up to Aug. 8, Elsaesser said.

"Let the highest bidder win, the classic approach, and we’ll see what happens between now and Aug. 9," he later said.

The Yona property consists of 72,801 meters of usable land and a 100-unit hotel facility with an administrative wing, a main dining hall, a banquet kitchen, an exterior banquet, a non-operational swimming pool and a generator room.

'Everybody wants the same thing'

There is no guarantee that additional offers will be made or a new offer will be higher than $5.6 million between now and Aug. 8, but parties in the case agreed that they would work together to aggressively market the property both locally and internationally.

Both parties, along with the federal judge, agreed that at the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing -- for each clergy abuse survivor to get as much as they can, so it's important that they do everything to sell this property at the highest price possible.

"If the property doesn't sell, the risk is ours to bear," Caldie told the court. "This is survivors' money."

Cauldie also told the court that clergy sex abuse survivors' voices have to be valued, heard and honored.

The archdiocese said it is paying an average of $6,000 a month for maintenance, utilities and upkeep of the Yona property, which was also a former seminary for the Neocatechumenal Way.

"If we get a higher bid, we’ll probably have an auction on the 9th (of August). If we don’t have a higher bid, the highest bid we have right now is $5.6 million, and so that would be probably approved," Elsaesser later said.

The former Accion Hotel is one of 41 properties that the archdiocese listed as "non-essential," meaning they can be sold to help satisfy the claims of abuse survivors.

Elsaesser said none of these properties, including the former Accion Hotel, have so far been sold since the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January this year. He said the Epicure Building was sold in 2018.

Besides proceeds of the property sale, proposed payments to clergy sex abuse survivors would also come from insurance money, and from other named defendants, such as the Boy Scouts of America, the Capuchins and other religious orders.

The deadline to file all clergy sex abuse claims against the archdiocese is Aug. 15, 2019.

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes and some clergy sex abuse survivors were also in the courtroom during Friday's hearing.

Reporter Haidee Eugenio Gilbert covers Guam's Catholic church issues, government, business and more. Follow her on Twitter @haidee_eugenio. Follow Pacific Daily News on Facebook/GuamPDN and Instagram @guampdn.