Christopher Hemmeter (October 8, 1939 – November 27, 2003) was an American

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. ...

who pioneered the concept of

destination resort A resort hotel is a hotel which often contains full-sized luxury facilities with full-service accommodations and amenities. These hotels may attract both business conferences and vacationing tourists and offer more than a convenient place to st ...

s in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

and was involved in

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

development of

casinos Casinos may refer to: * Casinos, Valencia, municipality in Spain * David Casinos (born 1972), Spanish Paralympian athlete * The Casinos, an American popular music group See also *Casino (disambiguation) A casino is a facility that houses and accom ...

, primarily in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Real estate development

Christopher Hemmeter was born in 1939 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and grew up in Los Altos in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Bay area. After attending

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

and graduating first in his class in 1962 he moved to Hawaii and got a job as a management trainee at the Sheraton Royal Hawaiian. Hemmeter's development career began in the 1960s when he partnered with Henry Shigekane and Diane Plotts to develop resorts in Hawaii. Projects he was involved with included developing the Westin Kauai, Hyatt Regency Waikiki, Hyatt Waikoloa and the Westin Maui. Hemmeter's signature "...is best known for the extreme - some would say outrageous - lavishness of the Hawaii hotels he built in the 1980's." When the Westin Kauai opened in September, 1987, suites cost up to $1,800 and rooms ran double the island's average at $180 per night. The hotel was set in and boasted two golf courses and a reflecting pool, adding to the reported $775 million development cost. Former Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano called Hemmeter, "...a man of great vision and energy, More than anyone else, he changed the nature of resort development in Hawai'i. The four- and five-star hotels on the Big Island and Maui are the products of his work." In 1988 he ranked 389th on the Forbes Wealthiest American list. In September 1987 Hemmeter made a $100 million bid for

Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian Airlines ( haw, Hui Mokulele o Hawaiʻi ) is the largest operator of commercial flights to and from the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the tenth-largest commercial airline in the United States, and is based at Honolulu, Hawaii. The ai ...

which was accepted, but which was withdrawn in December of that year after the October 19th

stock market crash A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a major cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic selling and underlying economic factors. They often f ...

Casinos

Hemmeter returned to the mainland in 1991 when he began to develop casino gaming projects. His biggest project was a proposed $1 billion casino in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

The original design resembled Monte Carlo's 1861 casino, intending to evoke the New Orleans 1885 Cotton Exposition and Chicago's 1893 World Columbia Exposition. The developers estimated the casino would attract one million additional visitors to the city and would generate annual revenues of as much as $780 million, estimates that were based in part on the proven success of dockside gaming in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area. In 1993 a partnership of Hemmeter and

Caesars World Caesars World Inc. was a hotel and casino operator. It began as Lum's Inc., owner of the Lum's chain of restaurants. It shifted into the gaming business with the purchase of Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in 1969, selling off the restaurant ...

obtained the lease on the Rivergate property, which by law was the only place the land-based casino could be built in Louisiana, beating out a rival bid by Harrah's. In August, 1993, however, the State Casino Board awarded the state's sole casino license to Harrah's and not the Hemmeter-Caesar's partnership. The impasse of one company owning the only license and another owning the only lease was resolved when the two entities formed a joint venture under pressure from then-Governor, Edwin Edwards. The new entity, known as "Harrah's Jazz" established a temporary casino in the Municipal Auditorium in order to establish a cash flow while the main facility was under construction at the Rivergate. The temporary facility opened in May, 1995 and a week later was closed due to a flood. The poor location of the site resulted in the actual gaming take falling 60% below projections at only $13.1 million per month. Equally concerning was the fact that 60% of gamers at the temporary facility were locals and not out-of-town tourists, undercutting the economic benefit backers hoped gaming to provide to the tourist industry. Harrah's Jazz halted construction on the permanent facility at 3 am the day before Thanksgiving, 1995 and laid off 1,600 construction workers, 2,500 casino employees, and filed for bankruptcy. Later, the project was taken over by Harrah's who built the

Harrah's New Orleans Casino Harrah's New Orleans is a casino in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, near the foot of Canal Street a block away from the Mississippi River. It is a casino with approximately 2,100 slot machines, over 90 table games and a poker room. The ...

on the site of Hemmeter's project. He also saw failures of his New Orleans riverboat projects and Colorado gaming property, Bullwackers. Hemmeter filed

personal bankruptcy Personal bankruptcy law allows, in certain jurisdictions, an individual to be declared bankrupt. Virtually every country with a modern legal system features some form of debt relief for individuals. Personal bankruptcy is distinguished from corpora ...

in 1997.

World Football League

In 1974, Hemmeter was granted a franchise in the fledgling World Football League. This team, known as

The Hawaiians Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Island ...

, represented a serious attempt at a viable professional football organization. Hemmeter was one of the few owners who was reasonably well financed. After a financially disastrous first season, Hemmeter replaced league founder Gary L. Davidson as the league's commissioner. Hew proposed a plan of restructuring for the league which was known as the ''Hemmeter Plan''. The plan was intended to bring a measure of fiscal sanity to the league. It restructured players' salaries to a $500 per game minimum with a profit sharing arrangement with the teams, and a fresh cash infusion from the team owners. Ultimately, those efforts were brought undone when a failed effort to sign

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college fo ...

for the

Chicago Winds The Chicago Winds was the World Football League's ill-fated 1975 successor to the Chicago Fire (WFL), Chicago Fire. The team was so named because Chicago was nicknamed "The Windy City." The Winds played at Soldier Field and the team was assigned ...

caused television partner

TVS TVS may refer to: Mathematics * Topological vector space Television * Television Sydney, TV channel in Sydney, Australia * Television South, ITV franchise holder in the South of England between 1982 and 1992 * TVS Television Network, US dis ...

to back out. The lack of a national television contract, combined with the league's already damaged reputation, resulted in the league folding in the middle of the 1975 season.

Other business interests

* Founder & Chairman of the Bank of Honolulu * Director,

First Hawaiian Bank First Hawaiian, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Its principal subsidiary, First Hawaiian Bank, founded in 1858, is Hawaii’s oldest and largest financial institution headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the Firs ...

* Director, Morrison-Knudsen * Director, Resort Income Investors

Personal

Hemmeter was friends with former President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

and hosted both him and President Ronald Reagan at his various homes. He originated the design concept for the

Jimmy Carter Library and Museum Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

. Hemmeter was diagnosed with

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

shortly before he died of the disease and had been dealing with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

as well. He died at his home in Brentwood, California. Hemmeter was married to his wife, Patricia for 25 years. According to

Anthony Robbins Anthony Jay Robbins (né Mahavoric, born February 29, 1960) is an American author, coach, speaker, and philanthropist. He is known for his infomercials, seminars, and self-help books including the books ''Unlimited Power'' and ''Awaken the Gia ...

, writing in one of his bestselling books, and who was acquainted with Hemmeter, the latter's house in Hawaii built in the 1980s "''defied verbal description''", and cost tens of millions of dollars, while even the front door cost $1M.

Awards

Hemmeter received the following awards: * Businessman of the Year (Hawaii) * Salesperson of the Year (Hawaii) * Marketing Man of the Year (Hawaii) * Islander of the Year (Hawaii) * Independent Hotelier of the World (1991)

Charitable work

Hemmeter was active in a number of charities, including: * Director,

Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States preside ...

* Director,

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Me ...

(Washington D.C.) * Trustee, Punahou School (Hawaii) * Member, Young Presidents Organization * Trustee Fellow,

References

External links

Hemmeter Companies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemmeter, Christopher Cornell University School of Hotel Administration alumni 1939 births 2003 deaths Real estate and property developers World Football League executives Deaths from liver cancer Deaths from cancer in California