It was a year of big planning discussions and decisions as the development of the Cayman Islands continued at pace.
The 15-person planning committee met 25 times throughout the year, scrutinising hundreds of applications ranging from home extensions and pickleball courts to multi-million-dollar hotels as well as residential and retail developments.
Hotels
Several major hotel developments will reach completion in the next few months with a few more set to follow suit after decisions made this year. Compass readers were given an exclusive look around George Town’s newest hotel, ONE | GT and soon to open its doors is the 354-room Hyatt Grand, set to be the largest hotel complex on Grand Cayman, which is expected to open early in 2026.
It isn’t just brand-new sites that are being developed, as the Hyatt Centric developers finally received approval for a new $120 million hotel to be built on the site of the former Treasure Island and Marguaritaville hotels, with the old building scheduled for demolition sometime into the new year.
After months of back-and-forth it looked like the Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort & Spa was finally going to be able to get on with its plans to add a 10-storey, 234-bedroom tower and a 18,410-square-foot conference facility to its current site on West Bay Road, complete with off-site parking and a shuttle bus link, but Central Planning Authority’s approval in April was later quashed by the Planning Appeals Tribunal, a decision which is currently being challenged in the Grand Court.
Looking further ahead, the Mandarin Oriental resort in Beach Bay, Bodden Town broke ground in February this year and is scheduled to open in 2028.
Residential
Making the headlines several times this year was the future of Heritage Square in West Bay. After several appearances in front of the planning committee, permission was finally granted for a $32 million luxury apartment block near the four-way stop in West Bay. Objectors said it was “incompatible” with the character of the area, but developers said it will serve the needs of the community.
The 40-foot-high, 12,000-square-feet residences apartment block by developers Heritage Holdings Ltd. will be located on the two parcels of land known as Heritage Square, currently occupied by a car park, a liquor store, an electrical store and a clothing shop and will surround the historic restaurant, Heritage Kitchen.
Complex projects often appear before the planning board many times before a decision can be made one way or the other and 2025 had its fair share of these.
One still working its way through the process is Legoland Real Estate’s proposed $86 million, 10-storey Eldemire Development on Boilers Road. The development was refused planning permission last year but has come back before the board with the building’s architect Eduardo Bernal of Arco Architectural Services saying changes have been made.
Another big project centres around the site of the former Black Pearl skate park in Grand Harbour. Property developer Project.ky has applied for planning permission for The Pearl, a $55 million residential and commercial complex consisting of two residential blocks containing 74 homes, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to three-bedroom town houses.
The site could also be home to a food hall, indoor climbing wall and lagoon as well as an indoor food hall, which will house eight different food stalls, an outside bar, seating for 300 diners and an outdoor restaurant if plans are approved.
Leisure
Cayman Island’s largest pickleball club is set to become even larger with the approval of its application for a structure housing eight additional pickleball courts as well as four padel courts, while an additional four pickleball courts in Camana Bay’s Festival Green were also approved.
Fans of Cayman’s vibrant food truck scene welcomed news that a food truck park in Prospect, next to Tim Hortons restaurant on Shamrock Road, was given the green light in November. The space will be able to house up to 12 food trucks, with the proposals including outdoor seating, parking and a children’s play area.
There could be a boost to George Town’s restaurant scene if plans are approved to renovate and enlarge the long-closed Paradise Bar and Grill restaurant in George Town. While that application is working its way through the system, plans which did get the green light this year were for three – since reduced to two – food outlets for Fort Street by Heroes Square, which should give more culinary choices for locals and cruise ship visitors alike.
Further up the road, development is well underway at the sites of the former Royal Palms and Coral Beach sites on West Bay Road after planning approval was granted. Documents filed with the planning authority show that businessman Handel Whittaker is building a new, covered bar on the site, as well as a 2,176-square-foot open deck, a seawall, service hut and two bathroom blocks.
From East End to George Town
Some planning issues move quicker than others. The Compass reported in March that a $250,000 application by the Public Works Department for a public toilet block, two cabanas, a parking lot and a buffer wall at East End beach off Sea View Road, first filed in January 2024, was adjourned for the second time by the Central Planning Authority.
The revitalisation of the centre of George Town has been a contentious issue for some time now, with the Compass reporting back in February that building works were choking their businesses.
In October, Auditor General Patrick Smith announced that he was investigating whether the lengthy project was value for money in the end.
Another long-awaited report likely to be published in 2026 will be the new development plan covering the whole of the Cayman Islands. The PlanCayman project will determine everything from building heights and densities to the balance between conservation and construction as Cayman continues to grow.
As the Compass reported in October, the Development Plan Tribunal is currently hearing from businesses and members of the public as well as sifting through more than 2,000 responses before producing a report for Cabinet.
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Is the Legoland Development the one that has minimal parking as most tenants will not be car owners?. This raises the question that did the developers have advance notice of the humongous increase in driving licence fees for non Caymanians?.
The Residences, photo #2
I don’t see external window shading which is crucial for hot climates. There are many shading strategies, why none is being implemented?
In fact, shades, windows or outdoor, seem to be a “foreign” concept in Cayman.
Major hotels in hot climates universally incorporate diverse outdoor shading solutions like pergolas, shade sails, canopies, and louvers to shield guests from intense sun, reduce heat, enhance comfort, extend usable outdoor space (pools, dining, walkways), and improve aesthetics, creating a more luxurious and sustainable guest experience while lowering cooling costs. These solutions range from simple shade fabrics to high-tech retractable systems, often blending with the property’s design.
I usually spend my vacations in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Most Punta Cana resorts provide ample shaded walkways, often featuring extensive natural shade from palm trees, plus man-made structures like gazebos, palapas (thatched roofs), and covered pathways connecting buildings, ensuring you can find relief from the intense Caribbean sun.
Dancing around facts.
Garbage piling up.
Roads chaos.
Sewage busting under ground.
Flooding gettin worse every rain.
Beach dem washing way.
We stretching Cayman past wha it can handle and there is no gettin it back.