Shohei Ohtani and his agent are being sued by a Hawaii real estate investor and a broker who were fired from a $240 million luxury housing development, according to the Associated Press.
Some very expensive homes are being built on Hawaii's Big Island on the Hapuna Coast at the Mauna Kea Resort and Ohtani bought one of those homes for about $17 million. He was apparently asked to get involved because of his "celebrity and promotional value." Reports of his buying one of the homes first surfaced in April 2024.
According to the lawsuit the Dodgers star and his agent, Nez Balelo, are accused of "tortious interference and unjust enrichment." Balelo allegedly kept asking for concessions until the point where developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto were both pushed out.
In a statement emailed to on Tuesday, Kingsbarn Reality Capital called the allegations “completely frivolous and without merit.”
“Kingsbarn takes full responsibility for its actions regarding Kevin Hayes and for removing Tomoko Matsumoto as the project’s broker. The Mauna Kea project is world class, and we look forward to welcoming our final group.”
You can check out the area and some of the houses on the project's website.
According to the Associated Press, Ohtani plans to live there in the offseason and will "construct a small hitting and pitching facility for preseason training."
