Judge picks contractor to demolish mistakenly built HPP house
A contractor has been chosen to demolish a house built on the wrong lot in Hawaiian Paradise Park.
Kona Circuit Judge Kimberly Tsuchiya has selected the proposal by Sanborn General Contracting Inc. of Hilo to remove the house mistakenly built on a lot owned by Annaleine “Anne” Reynolds.
The proposed, all-inclusive budget submitted by Sanborn is $121,690.28. The contractor who erroneously built the house on Reynolds’ lot, Patrick John Lawrence Jr. — doing business as PJ’s Construction — was ordered by the judge to deposit the funds for the demolition and removal of debris by Jan. 21, 2025 into an account established by the court.
PJ’s — which was contracted by the developer, Keaau Development Partnership LLC, to build the house on a lot adjacent to Reynolds’ on 8th Avenue — is free to seek reimbursement from KDP through the court.
KDP sued PJ’s and Reynolds after learning the house had been built on Reynolds’ lot rather than the adjacent lot owned by KDP. The civil litigation came after Reynolds rejected KDP’s offer of the adjacent lot in a proposed land swap and made a counter-offer the developer found unacceptable.
Both KDP and PJ’s testified during a three-day hearing in April before since-retired Third Circuit Chief Judge Robert Kim that no survey of the land was done prior to the construction of the three-bedroom house.
Kim granted Reynolds’ motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order on June 24, ruling Reynolds is likely to prevail at trial “on the merits as she is an innocent victim in this case.”
Kim denied Reynolds’ request seeking to restore her one-acre lot — which she purchased in 2018 for $22,000 at a county tax auction — to its original, predevelopment condition, deeming it “impossible to return the real property to its original state.”
That lawsuit is still active, and KDP is seeking general damages of $307,318.57 and special damages between $200,000 and $300,000 for lost profits had the home been sold. It is on hold, however, as both KDP and PJ’s appealed Kim’s order in the state Intermediate Court of Appeals.
James DiPascuale, Reynolds’ Honolulu-based attorney, has filed a motion to dismiss the appeal on the grounds that Kim’s order “is not a final judgment for appeal purposes,” and therefore ICA lacks appellate jurisdiction.
Both KDP, through Kailua-Kona attorney Peter Olson, and PJ’s, through Hilo attorney Ted Hong, have filed motions in opposition to Reynolds’ motion to dismiss — both asserting the ICA has jurisdiction in the case.
KDP’s motion argues that the lower court’s order requiring the demolition of the home “constitutes an immediate execution against real property, causing undue hardship and irreparable injury if appellate review is delayed until final judgment.”
PJ’s motion asserts that Lawrence “has a property interest in the house he constructed.”
“He owns the material he purchased that he used to build the home,” the motion states. “He owns the fixtures inside the home that he purchased. He owns his labor that was employed in building the home. The home is built on (Reynolds’) property. However, (Reynolds) intentionally overlooks (Lawrence’s) property rights that will be irreparably injured by the trial court’s requirement that the building be torn down.”
No dates have been set by the ICA to hear the motions.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
