Raising Cane
By Rob Perez
Hawaii Kai eager
to be rid of neighborFor a billionaire and international real estate tycoon, Gensiro Kawamoto hasn't been a big spender on home maintenance in Hawaii.
Not by a long shot.
Judging by the condition of dozens of Hawaii Kai homes he recently put up for sale, Kawamoto seems to be a tightwad when it comes to maintaining many of his investment properties here.
If he's spent much money on their upkeep since acquiring the homes in a late-1980s spending spree, it certainly doesn't show from the outside.
Many of the roughly 50 Kawamoto houses the Star-Bulletin saw in drive-by tours last week were run down and in obvious need of work.
Many looked worn from neglect and age, clearly detracting from the well-kept homes nearby, all part of subdivisions built mostly in the late 1960s.
Some of the Kawamoto homes were among the worst-maintained in their neighborhoods.
It wasn't hard to spot the blemishes.
Rotting wood beams. Chipped and peeling paint. Broken fences or doors. Makeshift carport enclosures. Torn window screens. Overgrown yards.
Not the kind of conditions befitting the image of a debt-free real estate mogul who used to be on Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest people.
Nor the kind of conditions befitting someone trying to be a good neighbor, even as an absentee landlord.
Kawamoto purchased many of his Hawaii homes around 1988, often motoring into neighborhoods in the back of a limousine to choose properties. He typically paid cash.
It was a heady time for Hawaii real estate. Kawamoto was among the wave of Japanese investors who collectively spent billions in Hawaii, helping drive real estate values through the roof.
Kawamoto eventually acquired 161 Hawaii homes and has rented them out over the years. But because of unspecified investment opportunities presented to him recently, Kawamoto this month disclosed plans to sell half his Hawaii homes and the 642 he acquired in California. The majority of the local rental units for sale are in Hawaii Kai, many in the nearly 35-year-old neighborhoods along Lunalilo Home Road.
Several neighbors of his Hawaii Kai rentals said they will be glad to see the homes sold because the properties have fallen into disrepair under Kawamoto's decade-plus ownership.
"He has no business coming into a neighborhood and doing business like that," said Ted Minakami, who lives near a particularly bad-looking Kawamoto home. "All he thinks about is his investments, not the neighborhood. I don't like to see a guy like him come in and just speculate."
Kawamoto was traveling in Japan late last week and was unavailable for comment, his local attorney said.
His Hawaii Kai investments have long been a sore point with some residents there.
Quincy Kaneshiro, a former Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board member and a longtime Realtor in the area, said over the years he has received "dozens and dozens and dozens" of complaints from homeowners about the condition of Kawamoto's nearby properties or the behavior of tenants living in them.
Kaneshiro said many of the homes are approaching 40 years in age, are considered functionally obsolete and have become "semi-uninhabitable." He said he isn't surprised Kawamoto now wants to sell them instead of making costly renovations.
"He doesn't live in the neighborhood," Kaneshiro said. "He doesn't care. He looks at this (investment) in dollars and cents ... He's a shrewd businessman."
At one Kawamoto home, portions of the roof have been patched and patched and patched some more, but leaks continue, according to a neighbor. Most of the other surrounding homes on that street have long had their roofs replaced, the neighbor said.
Even when tenants were willing to paint the homes or do other cosmetic work, Kawamoto's property manager wouldn't reimburse them for the paint or other materials, according to one former tenant and another neighbor of a Kawamoto home.
The homes have deteriorated despite ownership agreements that, among other things, require Hawaii Kai homeowners to keep their residences well maintained and their yards neat, according to Kaneshiro.
The problem is that in the older subdivisions, no homeowner associations exist to enforce the agreements, and the only way a homeowner can force another to correct a violation is by filing a civil lawsuit, a step few are willing to take, he said. Consequently, homes can fall into disrepair and yards can become overgrown with few consequences for the owner.
Kawamoto's decision to sell his properties in California has become a public relations fiasco.
He has been widely criticized for giving his tenants there 30 days notice to vacate the homes. Many are having trouble finding replacement homes in a tight rental market. Politicians at the city, state and federal level have weighed in on the controversy, which has been covered extensively by the California media and has even attracted national headlines.
California Gov. Gray Davis last week appealed to Japan's U.S. ambassador for help, seeking more time for the tenants.
In Hawaii, Kaneshiro, the Realtor, expects this chapter of the Kawamoto story to have a happy ending.
Whoever buys the homes likely will fix them up and keep them in much better shape, Kaneshiro said, helping surrounding property values.
"This is a good thing happening here," he said.
Star-Bulletin columnist Rob Perez writes on issues
and events affecting Hawaii. Fax 529-4750, or write to
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. He can also be reached
by e-mail at: rperez@starbulletin.com.
