Coco Palms rebuild gains financing, moves closer to reality
Financing has pushed the long-stalled Coco Palms rebuild into a more concrete phase, with Reef Capital Partners planning a smaller 350-room resort at Wailua. Residents will still be watching approvals, traffic and shoreline access.
Financial backing has moved the long-stalled Coco Palms rebuild onto a more concrete track, but the Wailua property still faces the tests that have stalled it for decades: approvals, public review and whether the project truly fits Kauai’s east side. For nearby residents, the stakes are immediate and practical, from construction jobs and long-term hospitality work to traffic, shoreline access and the future look of one of the island’s most watched vacant sites.
Coco Palms has been closed since Hurricane Iniki badly damaged it in September 1992. Travel Weekly identified it as Kauai’s oldest hotel and noted that an unresolved insurance claim helped keep it shuttered for years after the storm. The resort’s empty buildings have remained a visible reminder of how long redevelopment can take on Kauai, especially on a property that sits in the Wailua River area and carries heavy emotional weight for the community.
The site’s history reaches well beyond tourism. A revised National Register of Historic Places nomination was prepared in 2020 by the Hawaii State Historic Preservation Division, underscoring the property’s significance tied to Kauai’s alii and Queen Deborah Kapule. That history helps explain why any rebuild draws attention far beyond the hotel business and why the project has become a standing debate over land use, cultural stewardship and public access.
Reef Capital Partners says its version of Coco Palms would be smaller than the original, with 350 rooms instead of more than 400. Project materials also call for restoring the Lotus, Flame and Seashell restaurants and preserving the 15-acre coconut grove. Reef Capital Partners chief financial officer Jon Day said, “We want to restore this in the right way. Do it in a way that the community will be proud of,” a line that now sets the standard the project will be judged against as it moves forward.
But the financing does not end the argument. In 2024, concerns surfaced over a developer-commissioned survey that left out key questions, a nonprofit opposing the rebuild held a community event, and a commentary argued the land should instead be restored for Native Hawaiian advancement, education, environmental protection and community access. A state appeals court also vacated a foreclosure deal involving a previous developer in 2024, a ruling that kept the property’s legal and redevelopment history in play. The next real milestones will be whether the project turns this financing into filed plans, clear approvals and a construction timeline that finally breaks the 34-year stalemate.
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