The roughly 2,700-acre Dillingham Ranch on Oahu’s North Shore is up for sale again, an offer that could give the historic property its third owner in the past decade.
Ranch owner Kennedy Wilson Inc. has retained Christie’s International Real Estate to market the property in Mokuleia that local business tycoon Walter F. Dillingham established as his home close to 100 years ago.
There is an asking price, but Christie’s is disclosing it only to qualified interested buyers, according to Zackary Wright, senior vice president of Christie’s.
Beverly Hills, Calif.-based real estate investment and development firm Kennedy Wilson bought the ranch in 2006 for $26 million, according to property records.
Wright said Kennedy Wilson has made significant improvements to the property, including a multimillion-dollar restoration of the main lodge, known as the "Big House," built in 1917. Other parts of the property feature polo grounds, an equestrian center, a coconut grove and 19 acres of beachfront land.
"This magnificent tropical offering is an equestrian’s paradise," he said. "(Kennedy Wilson) really brought it back to life."
Dillingham was an industrial magnate who formed Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. in 1902 to dredge Honolulu Harbor. He created the family estate on land his father, Benjamin Franklin Dillingham, acquired in 1897 as part of 10,000 acres known as Kawailoa Ranch, which had 2,000 head of cattle and more than 100 horses and mules.
In more recent history, Dillingham Ranch has had several different owners and been a target for development.
A Milwaukee insurance firm bought the ranch in 1979.
In 1987, Japan-based Sankyo Tsusho Co. bought the ranch for $15 million and pursued resort and golf-course development plans staunchly opposed by the community in the early 1990s.
In 2002, Washington-based Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co. acquired most of the ranch property with plans to rezone the land around a common theme such as a "private club or an equestrian based community."
Metropolitan filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and the ranch was seized by insurance regulators and offered for sale, which led to Kennedy Wilson’s acquisition.
Kennedy Wilson proposed developing 77 home lots covering 400 acres on the ranch in 2008, but the project didn’t happen.
Wright said the seller is interested in finding a buyer who is not interested in development.
