Shimogawa Scoops

The Watumull Corp., owned by one of the most prominent families in Hawaii with ties to real estate and retail, has purchased a nearly nine-acre property from the Honsador Lumber Co. at Campbell Industrial Park in West Oahu for about $14.3 million, Shimogawa Scoops has learned. WPC Hanua LLC closed on its purchase on October 25 of the 383,981-square-foot parcel on Hanua Street that has three buildings that total 56,000-square-feet. Honsador Truss Roof and Floor Trusses currently occupies the property. The purchase of the I-2 zoned property comes out to $37.24 per square foot. It has a total assessed value of about $10.3 million, according to tax records. C&S Wholesale Grocers is adjacent to the property. More than a century ago, the Watumulls, who hail from India, started out with a shop on Fort Street in Downtown Honolulu, eventually growing to become a force to be reckoned with in the Hawaii business community with its iconic Aloha wear and real estate investments.

Marcus Mariota, the star quarterback for the Tennessee Titans who hails from Hawaii, is already making moves to upgrade his new Hawaii home. The former St. Louis School and University of Oregon standout paid $2.45 million for a more than 3,000-square-foot home near Kailua Beach in Windward Oahu. On Monday, Mariota filed a building permit with Honolulu regulators to add a spa next to the existing pool on the property. Robin Lee is the architect for the project, while Precision Grunite Inc. is the general contractor. The home was built this year and purchased by Mariota in May. It was only on the market for about three months. The home has a total floor area of 4,194 square feet and occupies a 10,000 square foot lot. Besides a pool, it has maid and guest quarters and a workshop.

Hawaii real estate veteran Abe Lee has sold a 10,357-square-foot parcel of land that’s part of the Malaekahana Beach Estates on Oahu’s North Shore for about $1.3 million, Shimogawa Scoops has learned. Earlier this year, Lee, who is the owner and broker-in-charge for Century 21 iProperties Hawaii, converted the property into a four-unit condominium project. Unit 3 is a two-story residential dwelling structure and Units 1, 2 and 4 are all spatial units. Henry and Janet Larrucea recently closed on the purchase of Unit 1 at Malaekahana Beach Estates along Kamehameha Highway in Kahuku. The entire project encompasses about 1.5 acres. Lee, who formed Malaekahana Bay LLC for the project, also is one of the most well-known real estate school owners and operators in Hawaii with his Abe Lee Seminars business. In late 2016, Lee purchased the property from a group that includes prominent Honolulu attorney William McCorriston for $2.7 million.

The U.S. federal government has purchased more than 2,000 acres of agricultural lands on the Southwestern portion of the Big Island of Hawaii from the McCandless Land & Cattle Co. for about $6 million. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which already purchased another 1,689 acres of the McCandless Ranch lands in April for $1.5 million, closed on its purchase of 2,000 more acres a couple of weeks ago. The big land buys total more 3,600 acres for a total sales price of about $7.5 million, public records show. The privately-owned McCandless Ranch is located on the slopes of Mauna Loa, and includes native forests and several endangered birds.

A real estate investor who lists addresses in Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands and Kauai has purchased the landmark former Salvation Army Thrift Store on Rice Street in Lihue on the Garden Isle for $1.65 million, Shimogawa Scoops has learned. Mark Gabbay, who formed JV D Two Lihue LLC for his Kauai commercial real estate purchase, also registered the trade name Dairy + Dime. In the sales deed, Gabbay lists two addresses, one in Hong Kong, China and another in the Virgin Islands. In his JV D Two Lihue company, there's an address that lists a home in Kilauea on Kauai's North Shore. The 22,281-square-foot old Salvation Army building occupies a 30,000-square-foot parcel, and was built in 1954. In 2004, The Salvation Army purchased the property for $1.3 million from the John T. King Trust.

Ken Kao, a noted film producer who has collaborated with actor Ryan Gosling, has purchased a beautiful oceanfront estate on the Hawaiian island of Oahu for $11.5 million, Shimogawa Scoops has learned. Kao, who created Waypoint Entertainment, formed Arcana with Gosling earlier this year. In 2016, Kao produced "The Nice Guys," which starred Gosling and Russell Crowe, among others. Kao's new Hawaii estate that's located on the slopes of Diamond Head encompasses a more than 6,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, four bathroom home on 0.28 acres. In 2008, Beecom Hawaii purchased the estate, which was built in 2001, for $9.5 million. About four years earlier, the home was purchased for $5.5 million. The East Honolulu property comes with 180 degree ocean views, a chef's kitchen, cathedral ceiling, a pool and private beach access.

An affiliate of Hawaii engineering giant R.M. Towill Corp. has purchased a 161-acre parcel in Kunia in Central Oahu that’s approved for the development of up to 1,000 homes, public records show. Earlier this month, RP2 Ventures LLC, which traces back to one of the largest engineering firms in Hawaii, finalized its $10.2 million purchase of the 161 acres adjacent to the Royal Kunia Country Club. A partnership involving California’s Canyon Capital Realty Advisors was the seller. The land is part of the long-delayed second phase of the Royal Kunia master-planned community. The development stalled in 2003 when Hawaii developer Herbert Horita’s Halekua Development Corp. got into some financial troubles. The vacant land has a total assessed value of $16.6 million. R.M. Towill, which was founded in 1930, provides such services as civil engineering, water and wastewater engineering, surveying and mapping, planning and permitting and construction management.