Instead of allowing the general public to buy, the reopened sales were conducted on the ‘friends and family plan.’ As Civil Beat explained:Īfter the 60-day window closed, Downtown Capital held another lottery, this time to sell units to friends and relatives of employees of companies that participated in the project. It is the ability to write in a loophole like that and then exploit it that makes insiders into the insiders that they are. Instead of going back to the original pool of lottery applicants to find more income-qualified buyers, the rules then allowed the developer to sell to anybody regardless of qualification. But about 100 of the designed-to-fail lottery winners were unable to close within 60 days. With high demand from genuine affordable unit buyers, the developer held a lottery to select those who would be allowed to buy. He bought a non-restricted unit and resold it for a $92,400 gain, explaining that his family situation changed…. Another unit that didn’t have any restrictions went to Colbert Matsumoto, chairman of Tradewind Capital Group, one of the project’s funders.Īmong the buyers who recently resold their units is Bill Wilson, chairman of the board of Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company. Gary Kurokawa, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s chief of staff, and Tracy Kubota, deputy director of the Department of Enterprise Services, together invested in a unit that didn’t have an income restriction. John Waiheʻe, also bought a workforce unit. This is a different Amemiya.) John Waiheʻe IV, an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee and son of former Gov. Honolulu Managing Director Roy Amemiya helped his son purchase an income-qualified condo. Many (units) are owned by well-connected individuals. At 801 South Street, insiders exploited complex and shifting ‘designed-to-fail’ affordable housing rules to legally grab cheap units for themselves and rake in big bucks from equity growth. The Amemiyas already own a Nuuanu home and Keith Amemiya is a senior vice president of Island Holdings Inc-not exactly the target buyer for affordable units. The unit and accompanying parking stall are now assessed at $579,800 -a $204,500 increase. James did not mention it directly, but unit 4511 was purchased by Keith and Bonny Amemiya from the developer on Jfor $375,300. Residents had to compete with (the) rich (including) some Caldwell management people’s investments.… We must do a better job to ensure those who really need the affordable housing get the units.” Honolulu Mayoral Candidate Keith Amemiya knows a lot about the ‘affordable’ housing system and how to ‘work’ it, but one of his opponents, Choon James, is not impressed.Īt the on-line mayoral candidate forum, James told listeners, “Look at 801 South Street unit 4511…. Not only does the resulting space perform more efficiently, but it also meets the functional needs of its new tenant.Ī beautiful homage to a seminal structure in Hawaii’s history, the resulting HDCC headquarters maintains the character of the building while ushering it into the 21st century.Amemiya Joins Pack of Insiders Grabbing ‘Affordable’ Housing Units for Themselvesīy Andrew Walden 3:57 AM :: 16826 Views :: Honolulu County, Ethics, Development We also replaced windows to attain better thermal acoustic performance, all while preserving the existing structure’s ogee moldings to honor the original appearance. To maximize natural light, perimeter offices retained their 12-foot ceiling height, shared spaces were moved to the core of the 2nd and 3rd floors to maximize daylight for open offices, plus occupancy and daylight sensor controls were employed in individual offices. We restored the historic lobby, grand staircase, terracotta balustrade and roughly 2,000 square feet of wood block flooring. The HDCC headquarters project showcased our strategic approach to reviving a quintessential Hawaii landmarks. Our comprehensive renovation restored the building to its former glory while modernizing-and maximizing the energy efficiency of-a local landmark for the largest construction company in Hawaii. Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company (HDCC) proved the ideal tenant to take over the building formerly occupied by the Honolulu Advertiser.
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