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He asked Kodama to advise him on what help he could get with planning and restoring the building. The critical task at hand was to shore up the walls to minimize any further damage, he wrote, adding that he would prefer to restore the structure rather than rebuild it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlso, I assume any expense we incur during the process would qualify for Tax Credits,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kodama\u2019s reply included a Memorandum of Agreement<\/a> between federal and state agencies, a lender (North Avenue Capital), and the former owners of the lands containing the historic features. The agreement, signed in 2021 as part of the former landowners\u2019 efforts to obtain a USDA-backed loan to construct several agricultural warehouses on adjacent lands, prescribed a planning and review process intended to protect the historic features. (Garg should have already had a copy. In May 2022, when Garg\u02bbs Greystone HI Investments purchased the condominium units that encompassed the historic buildings and features, he signed a partial assignment and assumption of developer\u2019s rights that included the rights and obligations to comply with the MOA.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kodama also instructed Garg to submit information to SHPD regarding his proposed emergency work, including a letter stating what happened, what he proposed to address it, site photographs, information or reports from his structural engineer, plans or drawings, and a permit application, if applicable. She also suggested that he also include any planned future work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kodama visited the site with Garg on December 13 and in an email a few days later instructed him to cordon off the area and post signs indicating that the area is a safety hazard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garg never did provide Kodama with the information she had asked for. His last emails to her were in late December, thanking her for advising him that he could remove tangled rusted iron materials from the collapsed building that had already fallen or been taken down, and also introducing her to Christopher Decker of the state Department of Health, which had also responded to a complaint about the work being done on the historic buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The DLNR Communications office informed Environment Hawai\u02bbi<\/em> earlier this year that SHPD staff had stated that they had not been contacted by Garg since December 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garg\u2019s attorney, Kalani Morse, stated in a November 2024 email to Environment Hawai\u02bbi <\/em>that with respect to the MOA, Greystone\u2019s team had been working with SHPD \u201cto determine how to best memorialize the historic restoration work on the structures and finalize approvals for the restoration work in progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morse also noted that Greystone and Garg are committed to restoring the site to its former glory, \u201cin accordance with all applicable standards and in consultation with all the relevant agencies and organizations that were parties to the MOA.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In August of last year, the DLNR indicated that SHPD had reached out to the USDA and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to \u201cdo something with the existing MOA,\u201d but had not heard anything from them. SHPD stated in a January email to Environment Hawai\u02bbi<\/em> that it would try to reach out to USDA again and relay any response. None was received by press time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contested Case<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While the MOA established timelines for the submission of an interim stabilization plan (ISP) and a historic preservation and treatment plan to SHPD for review and approval, the agreement lacked enforcement provisions, except for a requirement that the ISP be completed before the City & County of Honolulu issued certificates of occupancy for the agricultural warehouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those deadlines passed well before Greystone purchased the historic properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, on October 27, 2023 \u2014 a few days before Moy\u2019s introductory email to SHPD \u2014 Makai Ranch vice president Michael Danhour did provide SHPD with a September 2021 historic structure report and a January 2022 engineering report that had been prepared in an effort to comply with the MOA. The latter report warned that the already damaged power house walls were at risk because of their connection to the partially collapsed roof framing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf the collapse were to progress, the walls connected to the framing could be further damaged as they are \u2018dragged\u2019 down by the weight of the framing,\u201d it stated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SHPD indicated in late 2024 that it was investigating potential violations stemming from unauthorized work done on the historic site but did not respond by press time to questions about the status of that investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, Garg and his companies that own land at Maconi Point have been embroiled in a contested case hearing over violations stemming from the unauthorized clearing of coastal vegetation in the Conservation District in October 2023, habitat for the endangered Hawaiian yellow-faced bee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The DLNR\u2019s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands and its Division of Forestry and Wildlife are seeking a total of more than $3.1 million in fines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his direct testimony at one of the hearing days in March, Garg explained why he bought lands at Marconi Point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe wanted something that\u2019s more in the peaceful and quiet. \u2026 I maintained second homes here, mostly condos in Waikiki and Makiki, and just, I guess, a little crazy over there, so we wanted something more peaceful. We wanted someplace with a little bit of land, because Lorene, my wife, she likes gardening, and she likes nature, so we felt that that was someplace that we wanted to have, which has some land we can do some gardening, some nature, maybe some horses some day. So that was the main purpose,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked by Morse whether he had any goals in mind when he bought the Marconi units, Garg replied, \u201cNo. When we first discovered it, it was a little scary because it was old buildings, historic buildings. I did not know much about historic buildings and what\u2019s involved with them. I tried to get myself educated when I realized we have to restore them, and since it was part of the historic registration, we had to restore them to the original standards, which could be challenging. So we knew it was a challenge, but then it was an opportunity. The land was beautiful. I think the buildings restored would be beautiful, so we felt this could be an interesting challenge, but eventually it could be a bloody good place for our retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garg said he started repairing the historic buildings \u201cprobably May or June of 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n He said that Jeremy Henderson, the developer of the Marconi Point Condominiums, had introduced him to Ben Lessary that year. Lessary had done work for Henderson around the project and was eventually hired by Garg, who ended up purchasing several units within the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was introduced to Ben and Henry [Fong] by Jeremy when I asked him, \u2018Hey, I bought this place, but how do I take care of it, maintain the landscaping? And then if I start restoring the building, who do I go to? I don\u2019t know anybody in this area.\u2019 So he said these guys were taking care of it. Henry was doing some of the landscaping work for me, and Ben was doing some of the building repairs, so I went to the property. I met with them. \u2026 So I said, \u2018Okay. Let me start you with a couple of small projects and see how that works, and if that works, maybe we\u2019ll give you bigger project,\u2019\u201d Garg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morse asked Garg, \u201cDid you learn anything about Ben\u2019s contacts and resources that made you want to hire him to repair the historic buildings at Marconi?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, because in order to repair those buildings, you need different trades. You need plumbing, electrician. So I wanted to make sure that Ben had those contacts to bring those people, of and when needed, and Ben assured and then told me about different people he can bring on board as and when we need them. \u2026 During the course of the project, he did,\u201d Garg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that he had agreed that Lessary would bill him once a week, \u201cand based upon the billing, I would know what people showed up and what work was done.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garg said he spoke to Lessary sporadically as building repairs proceeded through 2022 and 2023, most of the time discussing whether Garg had to order materials that Lessary didn\u02bbt want to pay for directly. \u201cHe\u2019d ask me to order that, also rental equipment,\u201d Garg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garg testified that Greystone HI Investments, LLC, paid Lessary (who then distributed payments to various workers) more than $2.6 million for work done between May 2022 and April 2024. \u201cIt was a time-and-materials basis. Not all the materials was in there because some materials we paid for directly,\u201d Garg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garg said that Lessary\u2019s repairs to the buildings stopped after he received a stop-work order. In early January 2024, the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting issued two notices of violation that included stop-work orders, one for partial demolition of a historical building and doing electrical and plumbing work without a building permit, and another for renovations and repairs to historical buildings without a building permit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The notices threatened a triple fee penalty for work started without a building permit. According to the DPP\u2019s website, the compliance deadline was May 14, 2025, but the violations have yet to be corrected. No building permits have yet been applied for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morse, Garg\u2019s attorney, did file an application last year with the DPP for a verification of development standards and confirmation of legality, which was approved. Morse also applied for a Special Management Area determination for \u201cminor repair\/replacement work (windows, doors, painting, flooring, safety fences),\u201d which was also approved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On October 31, 2023, architect Tonia Moy emailed Jessica Puff and Mary Kodama of the State Historic Preservation Division’s architecture branch, introducing them to Sushil Garg, the new owner of lands that included the historic Marconi Wireless Telegraph Station on … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338,550],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-17143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-land-use","category-may-2026","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17143"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17167,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17143\/revisions\/17167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Resized_20220731_192940.jpeg\")