Damon Estate taking bids for Kau ranch

The Big Isle property includes 117,630 acres and 4,500 head of cattle

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

The Estate of Samuel Mills Damon is putting its 117,630-acre Kahuku Ranch on the Big Island on the market.

The estate, the state's fourth-largest private landowner, is listing the Kau cattle ranch through Terra Marketing Inc. and Monroe & Friedlander Inc., said James Whitman, Damon Estate's executive secretary.

The trust plans to hold a sealed-bid auction for the ranch and its 4,500 head of cattle some time in June, Whitman said. There is no listing price.

"We have no idea what kind of bids will come in," said Whitman, noting that the estate may end up holding onto the property. "We'll just see what happens."

The Damon Estate, founded in 1924, is a trust that operates for the benefit of the heirs of Samuel Damon, one of the early top executives of First Hawaiian Bank. The estate, whose overall holdings have been valued at about $800 million, is the largest shareholder in First Hawaiian Inc., the bank's parent company, with 7.9 million shares, or about 25 percent.

The estate also owns 235 acres of leasehold land near Honolulu Airport, which produces millions of dollars in income each year.

Under the will of Samuel Damon, the estate will likely terminate in the early part of the next century. But the trust is examining several options that would allow it to exist beyond the termination date.

Whitman said the ranch, which employs eight workers, has operated at a break-even basis. He said about 95,000 acres of the ranch land has a conservation zoning, meaning that the landowner needs state permits for any uses.

"It's been kind of a caretaker operation," he said. "Nobody's making money in the cattle business in the state of Hawaii today."