WAILUA — As demolition work progresses on the Coco Palms Resort, a new poll shows robust support for the restoration of the once-renowned property that was destroyed by Hurricane Iniki in 1992.
The SMS Research Poll found that 61 percent of the people surveyed said they support the restoration effort. A total of 24 preferred the property remain in its current condition, while 15 percent said they did not know.
The poll results provided a shot in the arm for Reef Capital Partners, which took ownership of the property in 2022 after the previous developer defaulted on its loan.
“We are grateful for the support,” said Reef Capital Partners Chief Financial Officer John Day in a statement.
“It affirms what we’ve been hearing from many in the community — a large majority of Kauai residents firmly support our efforts to responsibly restore the historic Coco Palms in a sustainable way that honors the legacy of the area.”
Demolition work on the property has been ongoing this year, with activity ramping up in late winter.
The restored resort, according to Reef Capital Partners, will be smaller than the original hotel with 350 rooms compared with more than 400 rooms previously.
The renovation will include the restoration of the historic Lotus, Flame, and Seashell restaurants, recreational amenities, a cultural center for the community, a lo‘i kalo or traditional Native Hawaiian taro farm and a spa.
The restored resort is intended to again become a gathering place for the Kaua‘i community.
Archaeological and cultural monitoring will be ongoing during construction and renovation.
Additionally, Coco Palms has convened a cultural advisory committee composed of respected members of the local Native Hawaiian community to help guide restoration of the site and ensure authenticity for guests.
The Coco Palms restoration is anticipated to generate more than 300 full-time jobs during the construction phase, and more than 400 permanent full-time jobs for local residents once resort operations start.
All approvals needed to complete the demolition, construction and restoration of the historic Coco Palms have been obtained.
Reef Capital has already invested tens of millions of dollars in the restoration, and more than $400 million in direct investments will be made as part of the restoration project.
Millions more are expected to be generated within the Kaua‘i community thanks to workforce spending, and once operational, the resort is expected to generate millions of dollars annually within the local economy, and provide substantial tax revenues for the County of Kaua‘i through real property and transient accommodation taxes.
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The poll was conducted by SMS Research through Peters Communications. More than 1,100 self-identified registered voters participated in the survey, which took place from Nov. 22, 2023, through Dec 15, 2023. The margin of error for the total sample was plus or minus 2.88 percent.
I wonder how different the result would have been if there had been an option to turn it into a park or cultural center. Given only the two options of leaving it in its partially demolished state vs restoring it, of course most people don’t want it to remain as is.
Just curious, anyone reading this get polled? I sure didn’t.
This is really hard to fathom….just who exactly were the people surveyed? Did anyone ask the people of Kauai? I know of no one living here who wants this hotel rebuilt. Looks like it’s going to be shoved down our throats anyway.
Just curious….where are they going to find 400 employees?
More like where are they going to put 400 employees cars with the tourists that will flood the area. Kauai’s betta days are no moa. Traffic gonna make Honolulu easier to get around then Kauai.
And you thought traffic was bad from Wailua to Kapaa you ain’t seen nothin yet! They gonna rename that stretch Kauaihattan because of the amount of traffic that will cause. Trips to Lihue will take a few hours on a normal day once it’s rebuilt. You got a whole other problem coming. Road construction moves at the speed of honu. What takes several years is done other places in 2-3 months max. You think tourists were a problem before just wait til this place is rebuilt. U might as well walk to Kapaa from Wailiua. It’ll be 10x faster no doubt.
How do they expect to get employees when Hotel One struggled to get their employees? Many other restaurants continue to experience the same. By the way, I wasn’t polled on this. Traffic wise, as someone always mentioned, is going to be hideous!!!!
Local workers……then 30k who want to return to KAUAI !!!!
You missed the point braddah. It’s not about finding people who want to work. It’s about those people finding affordable housing that matches the salaries they’ll be paid. Those 30k people you so enthusiastically said want to return, left, not because they couldn’t find work, it was because they were priced out of paradise.
Iʻm skeptical. Who paid for this poll? Reef Capital Partners? What exactly were the questions? The wording can slant the results. No one from the community supports the hotel when questions come before DNLR.
I love and agree with the previous 5 comments. And none of them even mentioned sea level rise and erosion which is already trying to take the bike path (and inevitably) the highway into the ocean. How about a really COMPREHENSIVE poll of Kauai residents regarding the future of that site-maybe The Garden Island could undertake this project?
If I can make a suggestion, why doesn’t the Garden Isle conduct a poll? I would tend to believe that poll much more than some sketchy SMS poll. Since this was an SMS poll, what cohort received the message on their phone to vote? Let’s see what the residents of Kauai have to say.