A lender that is owed $23 million on a Big Island golf course and planned housing subdivision claimed the project after no one was willing to bid more than $5.5 million for the property at a foreclosure auction yesterday.

An affiliate of New York-based real estate financing firm Gramercy Capital Corp. was only one of two entities that submitted bids at the auction in Kailua, Kona. Since Gramercy is to receive proceeds of a sale, its $5.5 million bid was technically a credit bid to keep control of the property in hopes of a future sale at a higher price.

Foreclosure commissioner Joseph Toy of Honolulu-based Hospitality Advisors LLC said a judge could approve a higher bid at an upcoming confirmation hearing if any offer is at least 5 percent more than Gramercy's bid. Toy said he's received interest from prospective buyers seeking to make a higher offer.

The property, which is mauka of the private luxury Kuki'o residential subdivision and golf club, includes more than 1,500 acres of land that includes Makalei Golf Club and agriculture-zoned property approved for about 180 single-family home lots.

A San Francisco-based firm, Lynch Investments LLC, had tried to develop the property and upgrade the golf course, but defaulted on a loan that led to foreclosure.