Legislature holds public hearing on proposed 40-year Maranas Resort lease as residents press for more review

A joint legislative committee on Saipan held a public hearing on a proposed 40-year lease, with a possible 15-year extension, for the Maranas Resort and Spa, drawing both support from business representatives and calls from residents for more community review and environmental analysis.

The committee that convened in the House of the Honorable Jesus B. Mofna Memorial Building heard three public commentators and received an opening statement from Department of Public Lands officials. No final action on the lease was taken during the session.

The hearing matters because the lease would affect more than five hectares of public land and, if approved, could reshape tourism, land use and local control for decades. “This 40 year lease with a potential of an extension of 15 years for over 5 hectares of public land is a big deal for us because we don't have a lot of land here in the Mariana Islands,” said Sheila Jack Babauta, a Precinct 4 resident, during public comment. Babauta urged the legislature to allow more public discussion and to involve agencies she said had been left out of earlier negotiations, including the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation and the Department of Public Works.

Noting economic concerns, Patrick Leon Guerrero, a homeowner from Asmatuas, said the island’s tourism economy has not fully recovered from the COVID-19 period and supported allowing the developer to invest. “We have somebody right now who's willing to take the risk, the investment,” Guerrero said, urging the committee to consider the economic opportunity the lease could bring.

Representatives of the prospective developer also spoke. Yun Kyu Chung, vice president of Mariana Eden Corporation, thanked committee leaders and said the company looks forward to working with the community.

Acting Department of Public Lands official Richard Villegomez told the committee that some issues raised in previous hearings remain active, including a court challenge to the RFP and a court-ordered stay. “If the legislature rejects it, of course, the court would have to… lift the stay, and make a decision,” Villegomez said, adding that he was not providing legal advice. He also identified several procedural and contract questions raised earlier, including an assignment fee set at 25 percent in some contract language, concerns about a single company controlling multiple hotels, and alternative site considerations such as a baseball-field relocation in Tonopah.

Villegomez cited historical examples of hotel leases changing ownership on Saipan — including Hyatt and World Resort — to illustrate that properties and leases have previously transferred among owners. He said those examples inform how exit strategies or ownership changes could play out but did not predict outcomes for this lease.

Committee leadership framed the session as a continuation of an earlier meeting and adopted the day's agenda by voice vote at the start of the hearing. The committee indicated it would consider testimony and the outstanding legal questions in future deliberations.

Speakers who raised environmental and land-stewardship concerns asked whether the island needs more hotel rooms or additional golf course development, and whether long-term chemical use for maintenance would produce ocean runoff. “Is there a reason why this entire property needs to go to one investor?” Babauta asked, noting community mistrust and citing abandoned developments she said the island had experienced in recent years.

No formal vote or committee recommendation on the Maranas Resort and Spa lease was recorded at the hearing. DPL staff answered questions and said they had taken notes from the previous session and would continue to address issues identified by the committee and the public.

The committee did not set a final date for decision-making during the portion of the meeting covered by the transcript. Members said further review and legal consultation would be required before any final legislative action on the lease.