Firm to sell homes again

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Longtime Hawai'i real estate firm Chaney, Brooks & Co. is re-entering the home-selling business, with plans to open a residential brokerage division at the company's Kaka'ako office.

The change for Chaney Brooks, coming in the midst of a booming home sales market, is the latest in a dramatic reorganization of the company that last year replaced top executives, exited the condominium association management business and won a contract to manage military housing.

Chaney Brooks recently hired Renee Blondin Nip, a real estate broker who was an attorney with the state attorney general's office. Nip will be the principal broker in the new division, called American Homes.

Nip said other agents will be joining the new division, which is expected to be up and running soon. "We're on the ground floor at the moment," she said.

American Homes will focus on U.S. military buyers and Asian investors, according to Steve Sombrero, chief executive officer of Chaney Brooks.

Chaney Brooks has ties to both markets. The company was bought about 15 years ago by Japan-based Nihon Building Service Co. subsidiary NBS (Hawaii) Inc. Chaney Brooks also is the property manager of about 2,000 military homes at Barbers Point and Iroquois Point under a contract with Fluor Hawaii LLC.

Sombrero said he expects a resurgence of interest in residential property among Asian investors. He also sees promise in the opportunity to help military families make more permanent investments in Hawai'i property.

Overseeing the residential brokerage and military housing property management group will be Jim Muratsuchi, a former lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who joined Chaney Brooks in October.

The company's roots go back to a residential property management business established by Aaron Chaney in 1960, but Chaney Brooks had not been involved in residential brokerage for years.

Industry observers said Chaney Brooks' condominium management business had been shrinking in recent years as the company grew to become more focused on commercial real estate.

Last November, Chaney Brooks sold its division managing 152 properties — 15,000 units statewide — to Honolulu-based Certified Management Inc.

Today, Chaney Brooks manages about 250 residential rentals and is one of the state's largest commercial real estate firms, with about 4 million square feet of commercial property under management.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.