No 'immediate changes' at Damon Estate
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Damon Estate officials yesterday said not to expect any immediate changes in the day-to-day operations of the estimated $900 million private trust, a day after the official winding down of estate business was set in motion by the death of a key estate heir.
Estate founder Samuel Mills Damon provided that the trust created upon his death in 1924 would terminate when his last living grandchild died. That happened Tuesday, when 84-year-old Joan Damon Haig of New Jersey passed away.
The estate — which at one time was Hawai'i's fourth-largest private landowner with more than 100,000 acres of property, including 12,000 acres on O'ahu — has largely disposed of its real estate over the past few years in anticipation of trust termination.
"There won't be any immediate changes in operations until termination is well under way," said Tim Johns, the estate's chief operating officer. "We don't know for sure how long that will take."
The estate, which employs 15 and is guided by four trustees, still owns a 15-acre industrial property in California that is for sale after a previous purchase fell through. About 1,000 acres of Big Island pasture land leased to a ranch operator also is for sale, with another 600 adjacent acres being positioned for sale.
Damon Estate also owns and pays for the upkeep of Moanalua Gardens, which is part of 3,700 acres of Moanalua conservation land owned by the trust. It would be up to the 20 or so Damon Estate beneficiaries to decide whether to continue financing the maintenance of the park, though the estate is exploring options to transfer ownership to a public or private owner.
Major income-producing estate holdings already have been liquidated, with proceeds reinvested in more liquid assets available for distribution to beneficiaries when needed.
Last year, the estate sold its most valuable holding: 224 acres of commercial property mostly near the airport on O'ahu. It was sold for $480 million to a Massachusetts-based investment firm.
Steve Sofos, president of local commercial real estate firm Sofos Realty Corp., said the Damon Estate had long been a major influence on the island's leasehold property market.
Besides its commercial O'ahu property, the estate last year sold two California walnut farms for about $30 million, and 116,000 acres of Big Island ranch land for $22 million to preservation-minded buyers. Earlier this year, the estate also sold about 2,000 head of cattle.
Three years ago, the estate cashed out its shares of First Hawaiian Bank for roughly $500 million as part of the bank being sold to a Paris bank.
Distributing the estate's roughly $900 million in estimated proceeds hinges on the resolution of a lawsuit on appeal to the state Supreme Court. One person familiar with estate operations said trustees soon could start to make partial distributions in advance of the case being resolved.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
