Honolulu – Rep. Barbara Marumoto (R-19th House District) reported that fourteen Kahala Avenue properties of the twenty-four owned by Japanese billionaire Gensiro Kawamoto are for sale. Please buy them!
Mr. Kawamoto has allowed Hawaiian families to reside in three of the homes, but most of the other houses and vacant lots are rundown and overgrown. He knocked down many perimeter walls, tossed the rubble into the swimming pools and then paved the pools over. Some houses were broken into by vandals. Neighbors buzzed with anecdotal information that drug paraphernalia was found inside. Several of the million dollar homes were razed. One property was cited for construction of an illegal seawall. The City and County Department of Planning & Permitting cited and fined Kawamoto’s properties for at least fifty-three citations. The City & County has initiated liens on at least 2 lots for repeated non-compliance.
Representative Marumoto said, “Should the fourteen homes sell, we will have new residents in the neighborhood who will undoubtedly take better care of the premises. So please, let prospective buyers know that there are some lovely beachfront properties for sale in Kahala.”