For most of the past two years, the answer to when Coco Palms would reopen was 2026. That is no longer the answer, and it is worth explaining why.
The current target is 2028.
What changed
The reason is not complicated, though it is not satisfying either. Construction timelines have stretched across the country over the past few years, and the effect has been sharper in Hawaiʻi than in most places. Materials, labor, and shipping all cost more time here than they do on the mainland, and a project of this size on Kauaʻi absorbs every one of those delays.
Jon Day, CFO of Reef Capital Partners, put it plainly in March: construction delays have become common across the United States and especially pronounced in Hawaiʻi and on Kauaʻi, and this project is not immune to them. He described 2028 as a best guess rather than a promise, which is the right way to describe it.
We would rather say that than repeat a date we no longer believe.
Where the permits stand
This part has generated more confusion than anything else, so here is the sequence.
Final approval for the restoration was granted in 2018. Building permits were pulled in the years that followed. Several building permits are currently active and construction is proceeding under them.
Reporting earlier this year noted that permits for some structures have lapsed, and that is accurate. Building permits for a project of this size are pulled and renewed by phase over a span of years, and permits attached to phases that have not started yet will expire on paper before that work begins. A few of the current permits are in the process of being amended to reflect minor design changes, none of which will be apparent to a future guest. That is administrative work, not a reopened approval process.
The distinction that matters: the underlying entitlements for this project are in place and were confirmed by the Kauaʻi County Planning Commission in 2024. Individual building permits are a separate, rolling, phase-by-phase process.
What has happened on the site
Three large concrete structures were demolished. They were unsound after more than thirty years of exposure and posed a safety risk. Other areas were selectively demolished for the same reason, and elements worth preserving were preserved, consistent with the property’s listings on the National Register of Historic Places and the Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places.
In June, the project closed $431 million in construction financing.
We are aware of how the site reads from Kūhiō Highway. The work completed so far has been removal and below-grade, which is the least visible phase of any project and the longest one here. Vertical construction is the point at which progress becomes obvious from the road, and it has not started yet.
What is still planned
The scope has not changed. The restoration includes the 15-acre coconut grove, a spa, outdoor swimming pools, restored dining and event spaces, and a cultural center and museum dedicated to the history of Wailua and Kauaʻi.
How we will handle the date going forward
Dates on this project have moved before, and treating each new one as certain has not served anyone well.
We will post 2028 as a target, not a commitment, and we will update it here when it changes rather than leaving it to be discovered elsewhere. Construction milestones go on our Updates page as they are reached.
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