The developer of a more than $1 billion planned residential community on Hawaii island filed for bankruptcy last month in the face of two foreclosure actions that threaten to repossess land slated for the 2,300-home project called Villages of Aina Le‘a.

Aina Le‘a Inc. filed the Chapter 11 petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu, citing debts between $10 million and $50 million.

The company, which has sold stock privately and spent $112 million to date, hopes to raise additional capital to repay debts and continue its development effort. However, at least one creditor wants to complete a land foreclosure sale recently approved by a state judge.

The bankruptcy represents the latest in a long and difficult history for the project in Waikoloa, which dates to the 1980s and has passed between four development firms.

Aina Le‘a, led by Bob Wessels, acquired an initial stake in the project in 2007 by partnering with an affiliate of now Saipan-based real estate finance firm Bridge Capital to deliver 384 affordable homes required as a condition of development approvals. The company later bought the 1,011-acre development site from Bridge for $10 million in cash and $14 million borrowed from Bridge.

In April, Bridge sued to foreclose on the 1,011 acres, claiming it is owed $19 million on its loan.

Another creditor also is trying to repossess part of the development site from Aina Le‘a.

Libo Zhang, an investor from China, bought $16 million of stock in Aina Le‘a and is the company’s second-­largest shareholder after Wessels. Zhang loaned the company $6 million and sued over the unpaid debt after the loan matured in November. Zhang’s loan is secured by 23 acres slated for 70 house lots. A state judge June 13 entered a judgment against Aina Le‘a and appointed a commissioner to auction the property.

Nine days after the court’s ruling in Zhang’s case, Aina Le‘a filed bankruptcy, which at least temporarily freezes foreclosure actions.

Zhang said in a filing in the bankruptcy case that he intends to seek approval to proceed with foreclosure.

Aina Le‘a hopes it can raise money while in bankruptcy to restructure its debts and finance significant planning and infrastructure work that is necessary before the company can generate any revenue by selling initial homes.

Wessels said in a declaration in the bankruptcy case that the company needs $12.5 million for infrastructure plus $28 million to finish building 192 affordable townhouses. Those homes, priced under $450,000 on average, would generate more than $80 million in sales.

“I believe this inventory would be absorbed relatively quickly given the demand for affordable housing on the Big Island,” Wessels said in the filing.

A big hitch in producing any homes to date has been state and county regulatory requirements.

One of these was the need to produce an environmental impact statement as a result of a legal precedent tied to a Hawaii Superferry case in 2007.

Aina Le‘a also failed to meet a state Land Use Commission deadline to deliver affordable housing, and the commission rescinded its land-use approval in 2011. The Hawaii Supreme Court overturned this decision in 2014, which led to Bridge receiving a $1 million settlement from the state. Aina Le‘a has lodged a more than $200 million damage claim with the state over the issue.

More recently, Hawaii County notified Aina Le‘a in May that the company had yet to comply with several conditions tied to the county’s zoning approval, and ordered Aina Le‘a to cease construction until it produces a supplemental EIS that the company began working on in late 2015.

The county, which expressed frustration over what it called misleading or inaccurate information from Aina Le‘a, said it would take steps shortly to rezone Aina Le‘a’s land because of the noncompliance.

Bridge said it intends to help Aina Le‘a produce the supplemental EIS because the report needs to cover 1,900 adjacent acres owned by Bridge. Bridge also doubted that the county could lawfully downzone Aina Le‘a’s property at this point, but also expressed frustration over the developer’s lack of progress.

“Given the tens of millions of dollars that Aina Le‘a has raised and spent, it is baffling and troubling that Aina Le‘a has failed to complete the SEIS submittal necessary for the project to proceed,” Bridge said in a filing.