The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-10-24
80 ~ ~ " Il l '----r T@a 80
Mahuka Site is Sold Az
Auction Yesterday
For $475, 900
COST I'm 1910
.E3i5.ai WAS $lO4, $50
Biggest Transaction Yet In
Business Property AT
Biggest Price
.lFrom sunday Adyertiscrl

al
New realty records were established
Yesterday in Honolulu when Malcolm
A. Franklin knocked down the prop
orty known as the Mahuka site for
$4,000, after spirited bidding. This
~ the largest real estate transaction of
strictly business property ever put
through in Honolulu and II fxed new
valuation upon downtown business lots
of s$14,36 a square foot
The new owners of this property are,
Castle & Cooke, representing hui Of
three interests--themselves, ". II. Me-
Inerny and the Hawaiian Electric Com
paDy--and the purchase was mad"l
through +. Il. Bteere, manager OF the
real estate department Of the Henry
,Waterhouse Trust Company.
The bidding at this public, auction,
at which Uncle Sam was the seller
and the collector of the port the ,apc-
,tioneer, was dramatic, in that bids
were made of advances of five thou
sand dollars, and ten thousand. dollars,
with one Jump of twenty-five thou
sand. The upset price placed upon the
property by the government was
$500, 900. /
The price paid for the lots by the
government In 1910 was 8 l04 $50.
Terms Of Sale
Promptly at noon Collector Franklin
mounted a box back Of the King Street
garage on the land to be sold and said
Fellow Capitalists" and read tho
following notice:
."By direction Of the honorable, the
secretary of the treasury, l offer for
sale to the highest bidder, who will
comply with the terms of this sale, the
federal building site, in the City and
County of Honolulu. Territory of Ha.
.waii, fronting rl74.85 feet on King
Street, 1885 feet on Bishop Street,
1885 feet on Merchant Street, with Q
roar dimension Of 1908 feet, and con.
tanning 4l,799 square feet, more or
less. The right is reserved by the sec
rotary of the treasury, until Noyem-
her Q, 1915, TO accept or reject any. or
all bids. No bid less than 5000, 900
win be considered Terms Of sale, all
cash on delivery of deed.
"The highest bidder must deposit
with me today a certified check, drawn
tn the order of the treasurer of the
United States, for FIVE per cent of the
amount Of the bid, as guarantee of
good faith, the proceeds thereof to be-
come the property of the United
States If the bidder defaults.
Rental Contracts
cat present there are two rental
contracts on this site: The Schuman
Carriage Company, terminable on sixty
days written notice, and the Water.
house Trust Company, Limited, termi-
Rable on thirty days written notice
This sale will be subject to these con-
tracts. Any rent paid in advance will
be adjusted equitably between the
government and the purchaser. IT,.
Before proceeding to auction the
property / desire TO call your attention
to the fact that the awards made by
the United States district court for
the balance of the property between
this site and Fort Street amounted to
$349,347 for "a, 500 square feet, or at
the rate Of $l4.22 per square foot.
while the piece of land am about TO
sell contains A. 100 square feet, and
even at half this price should bring
$500 900. '
1.-THE building and automobile sheds
at present erected on this piece of
property are not included in the sale. -
Quarter Million Starter A.. ~,
The fAt bid Of $3.50 900 was made
by u. B. Webster, Immediately follow
ed by 100000 bid by Mr., Steere and
- $270,000 by John r. Gait. Then in
rapid succession the bids were: Web.
ster, $275,000; Steere, $3.50 900; Web.
ster, 100000; Gait, $4,000. and so
on. Webster jumped the bids from
kl7E nnn a. kInn Nnn ..,kn. AZ
Gait said $405t 900, he remarked: "That
is my limit, 60 TO IT, -
The competition then narrowed to
Mr.. Gait and Mr.. Steere., The price
was boosted by $4,000 movements from
100000 to $440,O0O. Then Mr.. Calf
raised the ante $4,000, to $450,O00.
This staggered the crowd of onlookers.
There was pause and consultation be-
tween some of the interested parties.
Collector Franklin rallied his audience,
saying; IL II Is 49, /
,i'why, gentlsmen, IL don t get
$75O,O00 or . million the treasury de-
partment will send. . collector down
here who can sell land
Attorney George A. Davis and the
collector INDUCED in sharp repartee on
the subject of free sugar. I'If you
Democrats get in again this land will
not be worth half what the govern.
mept paid for it, Davis shouted.
Collector Franklin and the crowd
laughed and the bidding went on.
Mr.. Steere in the meantime had rails.
ed his offer to $455,0Q0. Mr.. Calf, with
some hesitancy said 100000, which his
competitor promptly raised twice again
At 100000 Mr., Calf indicated that he
was pau and Mr. Steere, for Castle 4