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March 17, 2026 Get Citation Alerts Download PDF Add Note

Hawaii Horizon Properties LLC v. KD Acquisition, LLLP

Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals

• Citations: None known

• Docket Number: CAAP-24-0000158

• Opinion

• Authorities (3)

• Cited By (0)

• Summaries (0)

• Similar Cases (5.5K)

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Combined Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed
Intermediate Court of Appeals
CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
17-MAR-2026
08:12 AM
Dkt. 67 SO

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

HAWAII HORIZON PROPERTIES LLC, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.
KD ACQUISITION, LLLP, Defendant-Appellant

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT
(CASE NO. 3CCV-XX-XXXXXXX)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
(By: Hiraoka, Presiding Judge, McCullen and Guidry, JJ.)

KD Acquisition, LLLP appeals from the Order Denying
Defendant KD Acquisition, LLLP'S Motion to Compel Arbitration
entered by the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit on March 18,
2024.1 We affirm the Order because the arbitration provision at
issue, read as a whole and construed to not render any word,
phrase, or term ineffective or meaningless, gave Hawaii Horizon
Properties LLC the option to submit its claim to arbitration. It
did not require Horizon to arbitrate.
Horizon owns property in the Kaupulehu Lot 4-A planned
community development on Hawai#i Island. KD is the developer and

1
The Honorable Robert D.S. Kim presided.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

controls Kaupulehu's Design Review Committee. Horizon sued KD
after the Design Review Committee denied approval of Horizon's
new home design. The complaint alleged breach of duty of good
faith and fair dealing; selective enforcement of governing
documents; unfair and deceptive acts and practices; unfair
methods of competition; and tortious interference with
prospective economic interest.
KD moved to compel arbitration under Kaupulehu's
Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions. The
Circuit Court denied the motion. This appeal followed. We have
jurisdiction under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 658A-28(a)(1)
(2016).
"A motion to compel arbitration is reviewed de novo and
based on the same standard that applies to a summary judgment
ruling." Frederick A. Nitta, M.D., Inc. v. Hawaii Med. Serv.
Ass'n, 156 Hawai#i 457, 470, 575 P.3d 547, 560 (2025). "[W]hen
presented with a motion to compel arbitration, the court is
limited to answering two questions: (1) whether an arbitration
agreement exists between the parties; and (2) if so, whether the
subject matter of the dispute is arbitrable under such agreement.
Id. at 472, 575 P.3d at 562.
There is no dispute that the Declaration's Article XVI,
titled Dispute Resolution and Limitation on Litigation, contains
an arbitration agreement. The construction of, and legal effect
given to, an arbitration agreement is a question of law reviewed
de novo. Yamamoto v. Chee, 146 Hawai#i 527, 533, 463 P.3d 1184,
1190 (2020). An arbitration agreement is interpreted like a
contract. County of Hawaii v. UNIDEV, LLC, 129 Hawai#i 378, 395,
301 P.3d 588, 605 (2013). We "construe the language in a
contract so as not to render any words, phrases, or terms
ineffective or meaningless[.]" Stanford Carr Dev. Corp. v. Unity

2
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

House, Inc., 111 Hawai#i 286, 297, 141 P.3d 459, 470 (2006).
Article XVI of the Declaration applies to "any claim,
grievance, or dispute arising out of or relating to . . . the
design or construction of Improvements within the Community,
other than matters of aesthetic judgment under Article V
["Construction and Design Standards"], which shall not be subject
to review[.]" The claims alleged in Horizon's complaint are
subject to Article XVI.
Under Article XVI, Horizon must first give written
notice to KD of its claim.
Horizon and KD then "shall make every reasonable effort
to meet in person and confer for the purpose of resolving the
Claim by good faith negotiation."
If the claim is not resolved through negotiation,
Horizon "shall . . . submit the Claim to mediation. . . . If
[Horizon] does not submit the Claim to mediation . . . [Horizon]
shall be deemed to have waived the Claim, and [KD] shall be
relieved of any and all liability to Horizon on account of such Claim."
Article XVI, Section 16.2(e) then provides:

Any parties that have failed to reach the settlement of a
Claim through negotiation and mediation as provided by this
Article may submit the Claim to arbitration. The party, or
parties, that desire to submit a Claim to arbitration shall
promptly so notify the other party in writing. . . . Any
person who is injured by reason of the fact that a dispute,
subject to the terms of this arbitration provision, is
resolved other than by arbitration, may recover as damages
the cost and expense incurred by reason of the fact that the
dispute was not submitted to arbitration for resolution.
Any arbitration proceedings under this Section will be
submitted to arbitration in Honolulu, Hawaii.

(Emphasis added.)
Section 16.2(e) gave Horizon the option to submit its
claim to arbitration, in Honolulu, if it so desired. Horizon

3
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

chose to sue in circuit court in Kona instead. Under Section
16.2(e), if KD is injured because Horizon chose litigation over
arbitration, it may recover as damages from Horizon the cost and
expense incurred because the dispute was not submitted to
arbitration. The penultimate sentence in Section 16.2(e) would
be rendered meaningless if arbitration was required, because
there could be no instance where "a dispute, subject to the terms
of this arbitration provision, is resolved other than by
arbitration[.]"
The March 18, 2024 Order Denying Defendant KD
Acquisition, LLLP'S Motion to Compel Arbitration is affirmed.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, March 17, 2026.

On the briefs:
/s/ Keith K. Hiraoka
Maile Osika, Presiding Judge
Kristin Holland,
for Defendant-Appellant /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen
KD Acquisition, LLLP. Associate Judge

Joachim P. Cox, /s/ Kimberly T. Guidry
Randall C. Whattoff, Associate Judge
for Plaintiff-Appellee
Hawaii Horizon Properties
LLC.

4