David Farmer vs. Harmon - Witness Francis Oda

David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon

(Formerly Woo vs. Harmon & Nicholson vs. Harmon)

CV05-00030 DAE KSC

U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

—

DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

FRANCIS S. ODA

Chairman and CEO, Group 70 International.

Group 70 International
925 Bethel Street 5th Floor
Honolulu, HI 96813

Website: www.group70int.com
Phone: (808) 523-5866
Fax: (808) 523-5874
E-mail: oda@group70int.com

Educational Background

Arch.D., University of Hawai‘i, 2000; B.Arch., Cornell University, 1964

Experience

Francis Oda is Chairman and CEO of Group 70 International, Inc., an award-winning architecture, planning and interior design firm with projects in Hawai‘i and throughout the Pacific. He is the recipient of numerous national awards for his designs, including the 1992 AIA Honor Award of the City of Kapolei; the 1991 AIA Northwest & Pacific Region Award of Merit for the Manele Bay Hotel; and the 1990 Western Regional AIA Design Award for The Lodge at Koele....

His other professional and creative activities have included serving as President of the AIA Hawai‘i State Council and Director of the AIA/Honolulu Chapter; and as a visiting lecturer and critic at Cornell University and U.C. Berkeley. He also has extensive experience as a board member of various professional and community organizations, including Historic Hawai‘i Society and the Cornell University School of Architecture Advisory Board. Presently, he chairs the design review boards of the City of Kapolei, the Kuilima Resort, the Campbell Estate (Design Advisory Board for Ko’Olina), and the Kaanapali Resort. He also serves as a community affairs consultant to the President of the University of Hawai‘i.

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NEW DISCOVERY (07-19-08):

October 10, 2003

Hemmeter projects and
persona larger than life

Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - by Gina Mangieri

Chris Hemmeter is not one to tinker. In projects from the 1970s through the 1990s, he preferred to start with a gigantic clean slate -- which meant a lot of razing, digging and grading -- before turning his visions into grand developments.

The Hyatt Waikoloa Village, now Hilton, is like Disneyland without the rides -- except for a 175-foot water slide and both boats and trams to shuttle guests through the property. More than $7 million was invested in artwork for an open-air gallery, which includes statues of mainland mountain animals. The project used enough pink flagstone from Arizona to stretch 75 miles if laid end to end.

Hemmeter's Kauai project, too, got over-the-top treatment. The 356-room resort includes a 26,000-square-foot pool -- the largest in Hawaii. Its champion-designed links would be followed by a golf-course boom that would leave 30 new courses in the islands in 10 years. The original hotel grounds included many larger-than-life sculptures, which the new owners removed.

"I remember looking at his hotel in Kauai after it was built, and to me it was kind of weird," former Hawaiian Electric CEO Dudley Pratt recalls. "It was all for show."

Others in Hawaii agreed some projects were over the top. Environmental groups criticized the operating requirements of his hotels in everything from water and electricity consumption to waterfront development approaches.

Hemmeter filled in 1.8 acres of submerged lands to develop Waikoloa. It's a point of contention today as a land dispute that still has the landowners at odds with state Department of Land and Natural Resources after U.S. District Judge David Ezra ordered the hotel compensate the state for use of public lands. Besides resource consumption, some saw his projects as forgoing Hawaiiana for fantasy.

Hemmeter's response is that a resort must keep the customer's fantasy escape in mind.

"You have to serve customers the wine they want, not the wine you think they should have," Hemmeter said. If developing here today, however, Hemmeter says he would work in a way "more compatible with Hawaii's environment and culture."

President Jimmy Carter agrees Hemmeter has the capacity to develop with nature in mind and says he has flexibility in style.

"Chris' creative mind and love of the natural world ... are evident in the design of the Carter Center," Carter told PBN. "He is constantly probing for excellence, searching always for the cutting edge of exciting achievements and daring experiments in architectural design."

A development that appealed more to the classical senses came in his renovation of the former Armed Forces YMCA on Hotel Street, on the site of the first Royal Hawaiian Hotel built in 1872 and demolished in 1926. He sold it to a Japanese investor, who later sold it to the state to serve as offices and an art museum.

Right place, right time

From 1968 to '71, more than 17,000 hotel rooms came to Waikiki. Money was flowing from investors. Hemmeter was positioned to join the building boom.

And his projects earned a wide visitor following. Hemmeter said Hyatt reaped significant revenue on Oahu and Maui, and even today the Hilton Waikoloa Village is a hit.

"Barron Hilton [hotel chain chairman] told me Waikoloa is their No. 1 resort in performance and popularity," Hemmeter said.

Hemmeter had a knack for seeing possibility where others did not. But he was also in the right place at the right time for his style and taste for design and risk, many say. He built during the bubble, and in a way that some say he probably couldn't have once it burst.

"Later, it could not have been done," Pratt said. "People have come back down to earth."

His major developments in Hawaii rode the 1980s all the way to the top, and few failed to be sold for more than they cost to develop. The Kauai hotel was struck by Hurricane Iniki and sold for a fraction of the $135 million development cost, but the two golf courses -- included in the original development price -- had previously been sold for $250 million.

Hemmeter's only Hawaii project to lose value upon sale was Waikoloa, which sold for about 25 cents on the dollar. Hemmeter and former business partner Diane Plotts said no local lenders were hit with a loss.

"Waikoloa sold for less than we built it for, but it was the kind of project that was needed to activate all the other thousands of acres in Waikoloa," Plotts said.

Bankers familiar with Hemmeter's projects say their operating expenses exceeded revenue, but Hemmeter counters that they must have been successful because "they all sold for extensive profits, except Waikoloa."

Admirers and critics

Plotts and former partner Henry Shigekane both credit Hemmeter as the wizard of Hemmeter Investment Co. But Hemmeter and others say his partners were also essential to his success.

"One of Hemmeter's big strengths is that he surrounded himself with good people," said Stuart Ho, son of Chinn Ho, adding he recalls his father had a favorable impression of Hemmeter back to days together at the Ilikai.

"It was amazing growing up with him as a father," said son Mark Hemmeter, developer in Colorado. "The best lesson I learned was that taking risks is a very good thing."

In an industry where smooth talking, favors and connections can be just as important as a good idea and solid capital, many who know Hemmeter say he and his team instead had unquestioned integrity.

Francis Oda, Group 70 architect, first met Hemmeter when he was developing King's Alley. The development would mean a car-rental agency had to move, and Oda was involved in helping with the agency's new site. Oda recalls Hemmeter made it his personal mission to ensure the agency ended up with lucrative Kalakaua Avenue frontage despite his development.

"He was all over solving their problems for them, and that impressed me," Oda said.

Many others also praise his integrity. Though they also concede his bold endeavors left some people uncomfortable.

"He was so extreme in carrying out his vision," said Beadie Dawson, an attorney, entrepreneur and community leader who recalls meeting Hemmeter in the 1960s when she worked in hotel public relations. "I think there's an element of jealousy out there about what he was able to get done."

"He went into so many projects, some were bound to be controversial," former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi said. "But hey, he made things happen."

A sting after 30 years developing

When the state didn't choose Hemmeter's Aloha Tower development proposal in 1989, many recall a bitter reaction. Hemmeter acknowledges it was a tremendous letdown.

"When I lost it, my comment was, 'I didn't know you wanted two palm trees and chewing gum,'" he said, still critical today of the winning bidder. Today, his bitterness is softened by hindsight. The young man made old before his time by cancer sounds more wounded than angry about the lost deal.

"I was enormously hurt," he said, adding that he had $1.38 billion in financing lined up for the venture.

He said he believes he had the best ideas for the project -- which involved a floating market, a sports arena and an aquarium. He even hung on to his Aloha Tower portfolio, today a timeworn set of renderings yet to be rendered neutral in Hemmeter's imagination. He turns the pages, orchestrating his ideas, and the music he said was his best sales tool still comes through in tones weakened by the slurs of Parkinson's.

"When we lost Chris to the mainland, we lost one of our greatest assets," retired Bank of Hawaii CEO Larry Johnson said of Hemmeter's move to the mainland in 1991.

"There is no one that can fill his shoes," son Mark said.

There is broad consensus that he has set a standard for creativity and productivity. Many compare him with Henry Kaiser who brought so many changes to Hawaii in the decades before Hemmeter's arrival in the 1960s.

Though Hemmeter has lived off-island for more than 10 years, he brought with him upon his return this week a new economic development plan (see page 46) for the islands, one he says would "maximize our assets -- the land and the people."

Many already see him as an important contributor to Hawaii's economic development after statehood. Hemmeter estimates his Hawaii projects have employed as many as 30,000 people.

"Chris Hemmeter is an extraordinary businessman, developer, community leader... and friend," President Carter said.

"Hawaii needs to appreciate his contributions to the visitor industry and the state," Johnson said. "His legacy will live here forever.

Reach Gina Mangieri, PBN editor, at 955-8030 or gmangieri@bizjournals.com

http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2003/10/13/story3.html

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NEW DISCOVERY (06/25/08):

LAND USE COMMISSION
MINUTES OF MEETING

December 9, 2004

- - -

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: P. Roy Catalani
Isaac Fiesta
Michael Formby
Steven Montgomery
Randall Sakumoto
Peter Yukimura

COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Kyong-SU Im
Lisa Judge

- - -

DOCKET NO. A03-744 HILUHILU DEVELOPMENT, LLC

Chair Catalani stated that this was a hearing on Docket No. A03-744 Hiluhilu Development, LLC in order to reclassify approximately 725.2 acres of land currently in the Conservation and Agricultural District in to the Urban District for residential, golf course, and mixed uses at Kau, North Kona, Hawaii....

Chair Catalani also noted that for the record, that he is a law partner with Rush Moore Craven Sutton Morry & Beh and that the owner’s representative, Guido Giacometti, is the spouse of a partner in the firm. Chair Catalani added that he personally has no financial interest in this matter and will continue to participate in the proceedings.

APPEARANCES
Alan Okamoto, Esq., represented Petitioner
Jerel Yamamoto, Esq., represented Petitioner
Guy Lam, Principal of Hiluhilu
Guido Giacometti, the Owner’s Representative
Norman Hayashi, County of Hawaii Planning Department
Bobbie Leithead-Todd, Esq., represented County of Hawaii Planning Dept.
John Chang, Esq., represented State Office of Planning
Abe Mitsuda, State Office of Planning....

- - - - -

PETITIONER’S WITNESSES
1.Francis Oda

Mr. Oda stated that he is the CEO of Group 70 International. Mr. Oda discussed the overview of the project elements, residential components, conference center, and the commercial town center.

Mr. Okamoto stated that Mr. Oda’s resume was submitted as exhibit 32. Mr. Oda was qualified as an expert in land planning. There were no objections by the parties....

www.kycbs.net/LUC-Minutes-12-9-4[1].pdf

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September 19, 2004

New mood kills Kona project

By Kevin Dayton, Advertiser Big Island Bureau

KAILUA, Kona, Hawai'i — Developers have been pushing for new projects along the crowded Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway north of Kailua, and last week the community pushed back.

A crowd of more than 180 people pressured the Big Island County Council to kill a major proposed commercial and hotel development there. They heckled supporters of the development, and finally convinced most of the council to vote to bury the project proposed by Clifto's Kona Coast LLC.

That angry crowd and the council vote may signal a sea change in the development atmosphere north of Kona at a time when the real estate market is sizzling and more projects are planned for the area.

John Ray, president of the Hawai'i Leeward Planning Conference, said major landowners watched with "a lot of apprehension" as the Clifto's project was vetoed by Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, and council members last week refused to override Kim's veto.

County Planning Director Chris Yuen said developers should be concerned. He said the handling of the project was a turning point for the county, with Kim refusing to approve Clifto's because it relied on still-tentative state plans to widen the highway.

The highway has been at capacity since 1998, and it isn't clear when the state will begin widening it near the airport. A widening project for Queen Ka'ahumanu closer to Kailua is scheduled to begin next year.

From now on, developers with plans that would increase the traffic on Queen Ka'ahumanu "are either going to have to wait, or build something that is going to help alleviate the situation," Yuen said.

Cliff M. Morris, the managing member of Clifto's, promised to put up $750,000 to pay for planning and other work on the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway widening project to try to speed the project along to offer some relief from traffic jams.

He pledged to turn over a half-mile-long strip of choice beachfront property to the county for a new park, and promised to provide 78 affordable housing units as part of the project, which is twice the amount of affordable housing normally required.

That wasn't good enough for residents furious about the daily traffic jams on the highway. They worried the Clifto's development would dump even more cars on the commuter thoroughfare, and wanted nothing to do with the project.

"Just stop any more rezoning, stop any more construction, and let's just catch up with what we've got," Kailua View Estates resident Dan Olson told the council last week.

Project defeated

The council finally voted 5-4 against overriding Kim's veto of the project. Clifto's was seeking permission to put 390 apartments and condominiums, about 392,000 square feet of retail and commercial space and a 250-room airport hotel on 83 acres north of Kailua.

Morris estimated the total construction cost for the project would have been $160 million to $180 million.

Killing Clifto's hardly solves the traffic problem. Yuen estimated that landowners along the corridor from Kailua to the airport already have the zoning they need to build up to 1,500 new housing units, which would further clog the highway even if the council refused to grant any new rezoning requests.

More projects are on the way. One of the largest is Hiluhilu Development LLC, which is owned by Charles Schwab and local contractor Guy Lam, and is seeking permission to develop 725 acres mauka of the airport.

That project, now known as Palamanui, would include space for a long-sought new Kona campus for the University of Hawai'i, a golf course, 825 homes and about 120 hotel units, said Guido Giacometti, the owners' representative.

Closer to Kailua, the state is considering proposals to redevelop 350 acres in the Honokohau Harbor area, and the Queen Lili'uokalani Trust is also making plans to develop lands the trust owns in the area.

Giacometti said the Palamanui developers are well aware of the public concerns about traffic from Kailua to the airport, and said the existing zoning for the Palamanui property requires the developer to build a mauka-to-makai road from Mamalahoa Highway to Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway.

That new road should help, and Giacometti said the developer hopes the Palamanui project will be better received than Clifto's was.

Ray, who was a county council member in the 1990s, said studies done years ago warned that Kona was headed for major traffic and other problems, "but really, nothing happened" to head off the problems. Ray's organization now represents major Big Island landowners.

Pushing development

Ray doesn't blame the local government entirely because the county was in an economic slump at the time. That meant there was little county money available to cope with the looming infrastructure problems, and there was political pressure on the council to push new development to get the economy moving again.

"Instead of concentrating on catching up, we were concentrating on giving entitlements but falling further and further behind" on road and other public facilities improvements need to serve the new development, Ray said.

Now there is not nearly enough state, county or federal money available to solve the problem, Ray said. He contends the only way to catch up is to approve new developments, tapping the developers for money and other help, and combine those contributions with state and county resources to speed up the necessary highway and other improvements.

Without the new projects, Ray believes the county will never catch up.

The Kona crowd openly mocked Ray when he made those same points to the council, and observers such as Sierra Club spokesman David Frankel are skeptical.

"The development community always says if you allow more development to proceed, our problems will be solved," Frankel said. "But history shows that the more development we allow, the more infrastructure problems we face."

Frankel and Yuen both say the long-term solution is to require developers to build more affordable housing close to jobs so that working people don't need to commute long distances.

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Hawaii Society of Corporate Planners

November 2005 - "The Kaka'ako Waterfront Project" - Michael Wright, Senior Vice President, Acquisitions and Investments of A&B Properties, Inc. teamed up with Francis Oda, Chairman & CEO of Group 70 International, to present an overview of the new Kaka`ako Waterfront plan.

As a mixed use destination, the project aims at serving as a "gathering place" to address Honolulu's needs for recreation, entertainment, and social exchange. Wright and Oda talked about ways in which the project's plan seeks to preserve and enhance the natural environment through landscaping, environmental sustainability and public access to ocean and shoreline. There has been a great deal of media attention on the project, both for and in opposition; our members heard first hand how the planning approach has endeavored to incorporate ideas into the ultimate design. One unique aspect was amphitheater, which would serve as a permanent home and venue for hula halau and other Hawaiian performing arts.

http://hscp.securesites.com/past_luncheon.html

www.kycbs.net/Kajima.htm

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May 17, 2003

Trust sets record on educational spending

Despite losing money, Kamehameha Schools
still spends $144.2 million

By Sally Apgar, Honolulu Star-Bulletin.com

Kamehameha Schools spent a record $144.2 million on educational programs in its last fiscal year, according to records filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

The money was spent on its preschool to grade 12 students and to reach thousands more Hawaiian children in off-campus educational programs or financial aid.

"The emphasis and focus of the trust has been extending the legacy to more Hawaii children, and I think the financial activity of the trust reflects that," Kamehameha spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said yesterday about the increase in educational spending.

At the same time, Kamehameha, like many companies and institutions over the past two fiscal years, was hit hard in the stock market and on other investments. Unlike the previous two years, last year's losses were not offset by the whopping windfall the trust received from selling its stake in the New York investment firm of Goldman Sachs LLP after it went public.

For the year ending June 30, 2002, the trust listed a loss of $93 million for one group of investments compared to a gain of $548 million the year before when it benefited from selling shares in Goldman Sacks.

The trust, which has $4 billion in assets, had revenues of $174 million in fiscal 2002 compared with revenues of $303.5 million the year earlier when the trust spent $138.7 million on educational programs.

What the trust spends on educational programs is budgeted a year or more ahead of time so it is not directly tied to the revenues earned in the year the money is spent.

In fiscal 2002, Kamehameha educated 4,835 students in its preschool-to-grade 12 program, which serves about 7 percent of native Hawaiian children.

"We reach more than 12,000 other students through various programs outside of the campuses," said Paulsen....

In addition to education programs, Kamehameha spent $120 million on capital and major repair projects. Among the major projects is the design and initial construction of high school facilities for Kamehameha's Maui and Hawaii campuses.

In the late 1990s, when the five trustees each earned between $800,000 and $1 million a year, the big news of the annual tax return typically was how much they made. But since the investigations of the IRS and the state attorney general and the ouster of the previous board, major educational and financial reforms have been instituted.

Last year, all five trustees together made a total of $525,000. The trustees' individual compensations ranged from a low of $99,000 to a high of $113,500.

The highest paid officer was Wendell Brooks Jr., the trust's former chief investment officer, who received $504,160 in salary and $4,088 in employee benefits. Brooks left in November 2001 and the amount included a severance package, said Paulsen.

Hamilton McCubbin, who resigned recently as chancellor and chief executive, was paid $350,240 in salary, $8,608 in benefits and $103,500 for his expense account and other allowances. McCubbin has a $400,000 severance package with the trust.

Colleen Wong, the chief legal officer for the trust, who has been appointed acting CEO, was paid $168,831 in salary and another $9,231 in benefits. Mike Chun, headmaster of the schools, was paid $195,057 and $1,111 in benefits.

During the height of the scandal of the late 1990s, the trust maintained armies of inside and outside accountants and lawyers. Now, the highest paid outside firm is Group 70 International, a Honolulu architectural firm that was paid $5 million.

Arthur Andersen, the accounting and management consulting firm, came in second at $1.5 million.

www.kycbs.net/Bishop3.htm

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June 1, 2008

Group 70 International

www.group70int.com/main/aboutu

Linda C. Miki, AIA

President & Chief Operating Officer

LINDA C. MIKI BECOMES PRESIDENT OF
GROUP 70 INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Honolulu - Linda C. Miki, AIA, takes the helm as president and chief operating officer of Group 70 International, a full service sustainable development, architecture, planning and environmental services, interior design and assets management firm which was recently ranked number one in Hawaii's Pacific Business News list of architectural firms.

Miki hit the ground running January 1, 2008 creating new business models and forming alliance partnerships, both locally and abroad taking sustainable design to the next level utilizing technology to monitor energy efficiency and ecological treatment systems good for the environment, communities and business. Miki is also overseeing the company's 5,825 sq.ft. office expansion, which includes Group 70's cutting edge Sustainable Design Resource Center....

"Linda is an outstanding woman who has made significant achievements in her young career," said Group 70 chairman and chief executive officer Francis Oda, Arch.D., FAIA, AICP.

"Linda is a credit to our island community and a born leader who has the knowledge and confidence to build upon Group 70's position as an innovative leader here in Hawai‘i and throughout the world."

Formerly Group 70's executive vice president, Miki first joined the firm in 1989 and in seven years became the youngest Principal in the firm's history. She will continue to be the Principal-in-Charge of computer operations and the Computer Aided Assets Management Division.

Linda's current projects include the Princeville St. Regis Hotel's transformation with a new spa, and golf and fitness clubhouse at Princeville, the Hilton Grand Waikikian Tower, miscellaneous Hilton Lagoon Tower renovations, the new Lagoon restaurant, a full renovation for an expanded 16,000 sq. ft. restaurant, the American Express sales center at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, a new Kapolei office building, and continued work with the Department of Transportation airports division.

In addition to her prominent role at Group 70, Miki is a community leader. Miki was recently elected as one the directors of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honolulu Chapter. In addition to her current role as board director for Laulima Ministries International, she is also part of the leadership in her church Living Streams Christian Fellowship. Miki's leadership was recognized in 2005, when she was selected as a Fellow for the Pacific Century Fellows Program. In 2003, Miki was also a recipient of a Forty Under 40 Award by Pacific Business News. She also served on the Central YMCA board and chaired the facilities committee for the past 10 years, and contributed her time to several advisory boards for the University of Hawai‘i School of Architecture, Honolulu Community College, and the American Institute of Architects. Miki earned her Architecture degree at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa School of Architecture.

Group 70 International

www.group70int.com/bios.aspx?g

http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Miki_Linda_3588863.aspx

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Francis Oda is expected to testify as to his relationships to Group 70 International, Guido Giacometti, Susan Tius; Sukamto Sia; Renton Nip; John Waihee; George Ariyoshi; Gil Tam; Robert Kihune; Micah Kane, Department of Hawaiian Homelands; Henry Peters; Richard Wong; Constance Lau; Diane Plotts; Louis Kau; Greg Chun; Jeffrey Stone, Ko Olina Partners; Judge Kevin Chang; Judge David Ezra; Judge Robert Faris; Kamehameha Investment Corp; Keahou Kona Resort Company; Guy Lam; Rockne Freitas; Charles Schwab; Hiluhilu Partners; Kazu Hayashida; Mark Souder; Peter Simmons; The Nature Conservancy; Faye Kurren; Peter T. Young, Robert K. Masuda, Dept. of Land & Natural Resources; Glenn Yasue, Hawaii State Parks Division; Bert Kobayashi, Jr.; Mark McConaghy, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Nathan Aipa; Colleen Wong; Louanne Kam; William Rosehill; Robert Katz; Matt Tsukazaki; Gensiro Kawamoto; Carol Asai-Sato; Paul Alston, Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing; CB Richard Ellis; Michael McKenzie, McKenzie Methane; Rocco Sansone, Marsh & McLennan Companies; Allan A. Smith; Steve Case; Grove Farm; Maui Planning Commission; Hawaii Land Use Commission; Colbert Matsumoto; Robert Herkes; Curtis Ching; Mary Lou Woo; J.C. Shannon, Steven Guttman; Judge Lloyd King; Michelle Tucker, Sterling & Tucker; James B. Nicholson; Carol Matsumoto; David C. Farmer; Aloha Airlines; Hung Wo Ching; Dan Case; Jeffrey Case; Suzanne Case; James Cribley; Robin Campaniano, AIG, Freeman Foundation, OHA, Al Hee, Sandwich Isles Communications, Larry Johnson, Summit Communications, Mark Hemmeter, George Ariyoshi, John Waihee, Ben Cayetano, Linda Lingle, Linda Miki, and others to be determined upon discovery.