Commercial real estate execs and firms with strong ties to OC, past and present, are embroiled in a dispute with LA Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and his agent over a luxe housing project planned on Hawaii’s Big Island.
News broke last week over a lawsuit filed by long-time real estate exec Kevin Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto against Ohtani, his agent Nez Baleo and Las Vegas real estate investor and developer Kingsbarn Realty Capital, related to a $240 million housing development in the works for years that the baseball player was brought in to endorse in 2023, when Ohtani was still with the Angels.
Homes at the project, the Vista at Mauna Kea Resort, are expected to run in excess of $15 million.
The plaintiffs allege that Baleo progressively demanded concessions from Hayes and Matsumoto before demanding that their business partner, Kingsbarn, cut them out of the deal. “Defendants used threats and baseless legal claims to force a business partner to betray its contractual obligations and strip Plaintiffs of the very project they conceived and built,” the lawsuit states.
Kingsbarn has been one of the most active investors in OC office properties the past five or so years, with over $200 million worth of investments in Mission Viejo, Santa Ana, Fullerton and other markets, often in JVs with other firms. The company said last week that the allegations were “frivolous and without merit.”
Hayes was a longtime area real estate presence in the late 1990s and early 2000s, having helped set up and run the Newport Beach office of tenant brokerage Cresa Partners, and before that serving as chair and president of brokerage Staubach Co. After selling an estate in Shady Canyon, he moved to San Diego.
Hayes Sr.—whose son Kevin Hayes Jr. runs Irvine’s Pendulum Property Partners—is no stranger to affiliations with famous athletes; former QB great Roger Staubach was the best man at his wedding.
Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis has been among the world’s largest law firms for years, with 2024 revenue reported over $8 billion. Yet its OC presence has been limited, until now.
The company, with several thousand lawyers globally in more than 20 offices, recently inked a deal for nearly 28,000 square feet of space at Costa Mesa’s Park Tower, including penthouse space at the high-end office across the street from South Coast Plaza.
The company, whose nearest office in LA counts over 200 attorneys, hasn’t announced plans for the Costa Mesa spot and declined to comment on the lease, though it has been advertising for some positions at the 17-story building, whose other occupants include Deloitte and Vaca restaurant.
One of OC’s top litigation firms is on the move.
Callahan & Blaine, which counted 36 attorneys and 85 OC employees as of earlier this year, recently inked a nearly 45,000-square-foot lease at Irvine Co.’s two-tower Newport Gateway office complex near John Wayne Airport.
The firm plans to relocate to the Newport Beach office from its longtime home just off the 55 Freeway in Santa Ana’s Hutton Centre complex, according to area brokers.
