Realty leader Aaron Chaney
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i's real estate community lost one of its guiding principals on Monday as industry veteran Aaron Chaney died. He was 80.
Chaney's real estate career in Hawai'i spanned more than 50 years, a distinction that made him a Realtor emeritus with the National Association of Realtors. It was his work ethic that influenced untold numbers of local real estate professionals who worked for him over the decades.
CHANEY
"So many people think of Aaron as the dean of property management in Hawai'i, and he was certainly that," said longtime partner Wendell Brooks Jr. "But it was his ethical approach to business and personal discipline towards work that made him a great professional.
"Aaron's idea of a half-day on a Saturday was to come in at 6:30 instead of 5:30 in the morning and to leave at 3:30 instead of 5:30," Brooks said.
That work ethic enabled Chaney to build a fledgling property management business into the state's largest.
A 1940 graduate of Punahou School, Chaney served in the Army and after World War II joined Cooke Trust Co. as an office clerk. At the time, trust companies handled property management in Hawai'i. Chaney eventually became vice president at Cooke Trust.
In 1960 with the help of his wife, Betty, Chaney established his own property management firm, which Brooks joined a few years later as a vice president. "It was fortuitous that he went out on his own," Brooks recalled. "The condo business just started to explode."
Chaney was chairman of the state Real Estate Commission in1960-62 and became president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors in 1963. In 1959 and 1984 he was named Realtor of the year.
Chaney continued to run his own firm until 1981 when Brooks, who went to work for Castle & Cooke, rejoined his old friend to establish Chaney, Brooks & Co., a company they sold in 1988 to a subsidiary of Nihon Building Service Co. in Japan.
Still, Chaney stayed on as a volunteer consultant until retiring in 1995.
Steve Sombrero, who took over as chief executive officer of Chaney, Brooks & Co. earlier this year, said Chaney at the time called him to wish him well in running the company, which last year exited the condo association management business.
"He had a very sharp mind, and was very concerned about the business and offered to help," Sombrero recalled. "He was amazing."
Steve Sofos, who for 16 years worked for Chaney before establishing his own firm, Sofos Realty Corp., said Chaney will be remembered as the undisputed dean of Hawai'i commercial real estate. "Aaron Chaney was Mr. Residential Property Management in Hawai'i," Sofos said.
Services for Chaney will be held at Thurston Chapel at Punahou School at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
