Failed Ohia Resort Project in Kōloa Heads to Bankruptcy Auction

The Kukuiʻula parcel where California-based Kupono Resort LLC planned a $227 million development called The Ohia is being offered in a bankruptcy sale, with bids due by 2 p.m. HST on April 13, Kauai reporting and the sale agent Hilco Global say. The property, variously described as 24.93± acres (Parcel X-1), 24 acres in a Hilco map overlay, and commonly rounded to 25 acres, sits inside the Kukuiʻula subdivision in Kōloa with ocean and mountain views.

Kupono Resort purchased the phase-one parcel in 2021 but the project never broke ground. Beatofhawaii reported Kupono Resort LLC filed for bankruptcy protection on July 28, 2025, and that the case was converted from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 liquidation on October 27, with a court-appointed trustee moving to auction the site. The sale will be subject to approval by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Hawaiʻi.

Hilco Global’s offering materials identify the site as Parcel X-1 and describe the 24.93± AC tract as generally level with commanding ocean and mountain views inside the Visitor Destination Area, zoned R-10 Residential and RR-10 Resort. KauaiNow’s coverage and a Hilco image caption reference the same Kukuiʻula location on a former sugar cane plantation on Kauaʻi’s sun-drenched south shore.

Published project plans and news accounts differ on the development program. KauaiNow reported The Ohia as a $227 million project with an 84-room boutique hotel, a spa and 115 residential units. Beatofhawaii described phase one as calling for 85 hotel rooms and 65 resort residences, with Kupono holding an option on an additional 17 acres that could have added 150 more residences. Pacific Business News excerpts have cited an 85-room hotel and 215 residential units total. The divergence suggests the developer’s phase-one and phase-two counts differ across filings and summaries.

Hilco Global is marketing the parcel as a rare development opportunity in a supply-constrained market. Hilco’s materials state the offering is “an exceptional development opportunity” and that the site “sits on the sun-drenched southern coast of Kauaʻi.” KauaiNow quoted Hilco senior director Stephen Madura saying, “The combination of scale, location and prestige places this offering in a class of its own. Opportunities of this caliber on Kauaʻi’s south shore are extraordinarily limited and should attract interest from investors and developers the world over.”

Local land-use context complicates the parcel’s market role. Beatofhawaii noted recent moves toward housing on Kauaʻi, citing Department of Hawaiian Home Lands purchases including an 82-unit Waipouli complex for $44 million and a 260-acre Grove Farm sale for $18.25 million to support roughly 1,100 homesteads. Beatofhawaii observed that “land is moving, but not toward more hotels,” and that the loss of a fully hotel-zoned parcel in an established resort corridor “underscores how narrow the path has become” for new visitor inventory on the South Shore.

Auction mechanics and next steps are already on the public timeline: Hilco is marketing the sale and bids must be submitted by 2 p.m. HST on April 13, with any purchase subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Hawaiʻi and overseen by the court-appointed trustee. Beatofhawaii cautioned that if a buyer seeks to revive a hotel concept, “any new proposal would still face years of design, financing, and construction before opening,” leaving the immediate outcome focused on who bids for the nearly 25-acre Kukuiʻula parcel and how the court rules on the sale.