HONOLULU -- A group put together by Gov. Linda Lingle to review the plan to buy the Turtle Bay Resort and the land around it met for the first time Wednesday.

Its chairman said it might be difficult to purchase the property, but that this could be a good time to try.

The advisory group and the governor want to stop Turtle Bay's plan to develop up to five new hotels with 3,500 additional hotel and condo units.

Chairman Bill Paty said they will leave no stone unturned to try to buy and preserve the 880-acre resort.

"The interest rates are low, the sales for distress properties are way down and there is bankruptcy in the picture. Who knows what can evolve over time if we bring this together," Paty said.

"We want to do it in a way that minimizes state funding. We want to maximize federal funding, private funding, any approach that we can take that minimizes the state's financial contribution," Lingle said.

The governor became interested in purchasing Turtle Bay after an international lender filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the resorts owners.