Billionaire opens mansions to homeless By AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Mar 23, 7:32 AM ET

HONOLULU - Dorie-Ann Kahale and her five daughters moved from a homeless shelter to a mansion Thursday, courtesy of a Japanese real estate mogul who is handing over eight of his multimillion-dollar homes to low-income Native Hawaiian families.

Tears spilled down Kahale's cheeks as she accepted from billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto the key to a white, columned house with a circular driveway, a stone staircase and a deep porcelain bathtub. Her family will live there rent-free, but must pay utility bills.

"I'm shocked. I'm overwhelmed," Kahale said. "From the little box we had to what we have today."

Kawamoto, whose own eyes started welling up as Kahale cried, handed over two other homes Thursday to homeless or low-income families.

Kawamoto, one of Japan's richest men, said he plans to open eight of his 22 Kahala homes to needy Hawaiian families. They will be able to stay in the homes for up to 10 years, he said. He also gave each family 10 $100 bills to help them move in.

Native Hawaiians are disproportionately represented among the state's homeless and working poor.

Kawamoto owns dozens of office buildings in Tokyo under the name Marugen and his been buying and selling real estate in Hawaii and California since the 1980s.

He has been criticized for evicting tenants of his rental homes on short notice so he could sell the properties, as in 2002 when he gave hundreds of California tenants 30 days to leave.

Two years later, he served eviction notices to tenants in 27 Oahu rental homes, mostly in pricey Hawaii Kai, saying they had to leave within a month. He said he wanted to sell the houses to take advantage of rising prices.

Kawamoto selected the eight low-income families from 3,000 people who wrote him letters last fall after he announced his plan. He has said he tried to pick working, single mothers.

Giving away mansions shows more dedication to helping Hawaii's homeless than just handing out wads of cash, he said. Asked whether he was concerned about losing money on the effort, he laughed and said: "This is pocket money for me."

Kahale's new house is worth nearly $5 million, an average price for the mansion-like dwellings on Kahala Avenue. It is one of the more modest homes in the neighborhood, many of which feature ornate iron gates, meandering driveways and sculptured gardens.

Kahale became homeless two years ago when her landlord raised her rent from $800 to $1,200, putting the apartment beyond reach of her salary as customer service representative for Pacific LightNet, a telecommunications company. She first stayed with relatives, then moved to a shelter in September.

"What we need to do is appreciate," Kahale said after getting the keys to her new house. "As fast as we got it, it could disappear."

Some neighbors are unhappy with Kawamoto's plan, speculating that he is trying to drive down real estate values so he can snap up even more homes.

"Everyone's paying homage to him, but in reality, he's the problem," said Mark Blackburn, who lives down the street from Kahale's new home. "Houses are homes. They're made to live in; they aren't investment vehicles."

He suggested that the Waianae Coast, a heavily Hawaiian community on the other side of Oahu that has been hit hard by homelessness, would have been a better place for Kawamoto to carry out his charity work.

Kawamoto countered that those in the Kahala neighborhood who don't want Hawaiians next door might want to leave the islands altogether.

"The people who don't want to live near Hawaiians should move," Kawamoto said.

Lyn Worley, 40, who got the key to another Kawamoto house, said she believes her neighbors will grow to love her family.

The elementary school clerk has been living in a house in Waianae with her five children and brother for the past four years. Their lease ran out — and then Kawamoto's offer came along.

"We prayed so hard and cried so much for God to drop something from the skies, and he did," Worley said. "And he did, he really, really did."

 

do you think kawamoto is really a nice guy OR is he trying to bring the value of kahala homes down? Sorry is that too much of a pessimistic question?

 

were can i sign up?? but hey he is helping ppls and thats all that matters. as long as he keeps his end of there agreement then i don't see anything wrong with it. it just shows how snobby some rich ppls are that they want nothing to do with the homeless

 

The guy knows how to make money and knows how to ruffle feathers...guaranteed he has something up his sleeve that will make him big $$$. But that doesn't deter from the fact that what he is doing is aiding 8 needy families by providing for them low rent shelters of luxurious proportions...

For the eight fortunate families...good for them, enjoy it while they can. For the rest of the snobby Kahala neighborhood...if they have a problem with their new neighbors, they need to learn to deal with it...

I personally think that these 8 families have been provided not only a top notch dwelling to live in for up to 10 years, they have been given an opportunity to better their lives. I would hope that they can divert the income they would normally have to pay toward rent, to education or investments, to better the future of the next generation...rather than foolishly spending it on materialistic and frivolous items...

If Kawamoto really wanted to help them, he would help counsel them on money management...and better yet, how to make money...we all need that...

As far as people judging what he is doing...the critics need to either do the same, find a feasible solution or just keep their mouth shut. The media likes to blow things out of proportion all the time...I have a problem with the media and people complaining about this and that but have no solutions to the problem...

 

Brent is right...I'm hoping that some agency helped him find these people and is also doing their job to help the families become self-sufficient after this.

 

The saving part is what i was thinking. I hope these people don't take all the money they are supposed to be saving, and buying things they couldn't buy before.

If i was them, i'd be saving and investing like a ****.

 

I'm kind of pessimestic too. At best its a publicity stunt and at worst he's trying to affect the market value of homes in Kahala so he can buy more.

Think about it. Take those 8 homes and sell them or rent them at market value. The money from that can help a lot more than just 8 families. If he's really interested in helping the poor there is so much more that could be done. Taking a poor family and sticking them in a mansion has the potential to do more harm than good IMO.

ps: BTW, I just finished up a graduate course in diversity and one of the topics of the course was division of class. If anyone has issues with what I've posted above I have some references that make for good reading.


edit: I should add that I hope I'm wrong about the situation. Nothing would be better than for those 8 families to make the most of the opportunity.

 

we can debate all day long about what his true intentions are... one thing that we can agree on is this: wealthy people make money in a whole different way than the majority... while most people spend 40-60 years working for money... wealthy people have money work for them-
if this is a strategy to ****** up more real estate... thats his choice, his money and his reputation on the line- . hopefully it does not cross moral/ethical boundries- i would not go as far to say that he is crippling people. people cripple themselves. he gives them a chance... to do something with their lifes... much more than what has ever been granted them before

as for the title of this thread... i would go as far to say that these families have been blessed- let's hope that it flourishes to much more than that... like a legacy for the generations that follow-



aloha from the summit of *-^-mauna kea-^-*

 

Maybe he is telling the state something, like we got a serious problem here where locals cant afford to live in Hawaii 2+ Jobs and still can't make ends meet.
Lowest unemployment and lots of people that can't afford rent might that be a clue to some bigger problem?

 

Some would say he was partly to blame for bringing prices up in the 80s. My fiance's parents were one of the ones that had their house snapped up. Hell, he was apparently offering enough over market that only a small handful turned him down.

 

those neighbors that are complaining are fortunate enough to have the ability to move if they don't like the location and people there

I say good for that guy for helping out those families...as long as he doesn't try to screw them over. As for the attempt to put a negative light on him for evicting people to sell his property.....it is his property and he does have that right