Big Island realty firms merge to broaden reach
C and H Properties combines with Windermere Island Properties
One of the Big Island's top grossing real estate companies, C and H Properties Inc. of Waimea, has merged with Kailua-Kona based Windermere Island Properties LLC, which is part of the largest real estate brand in the western United States.
Now known as Windermere/C and H Properties Inc., the companies will combine operations during the next several months; however there will not be any changes to the buildings or business operating environments. Principals will handle project sales for two high-end resort developments, Ke Kailani at the Mauna Lani Resort and Kauna'oa at the Mauna Kea Resort.
"This merger will deliver a much larger geographic reach than either company had previously," said Brad Knowles, co-owner of the new company. "For Windermere, this will amount to a huge leap in market share as well as a high-profile presence in the Kohala Coast resorts."
For the past four years, C and H Properties' annual gross sales have averaged over $200 million, with sales just shy of $250 million in 2007, despite a slowing market, Knowles said. The company, which was founded in 1981 and specialized in the Kohala Coast and Waimea, has sold almost $1.4 billion in real estate since 2000, more than any other individual real estate office on the island, he said.
Steve Hurwitz, president of the newly formed company, said that the merger would improve upon C and H Properties by giving it a presence in the fast-growing Kailua-Kona metro area as well as an off-island affiliation with the Windermere Wailea, Maui, branch and the Windermere regional brand in the western U.S.
"The synergy created as a result of our affiliation with Windermere will be especially productive because many of our clients come from states where Windermere is already operating," said Hurwitz, who co-founded C and H Properties. "Many of them already know or have experienced Windermere as a quality brand company."
Windermere Island Properties, owned by the Knowles family, opened for business in Kona in the spring of 2006 and focused primarily on sales of residential condos and single-family homes in the Kailua-Kona area on the west side of the Big Island. The family opened a second Windermere office in Maui in 2007.