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As major California cities expand outward, the Coachella Valley is opening its doors to a desert of development.
"There is a lot going on in the whole valley," said Lynn Mallotto, fund development coordinator for Cathedral City, a town of about 43,000 people.
"There is definitely a boom going on," added Bill Sharon, vice president of San Diego-based Smith Consulting Architects. "One factor is the continual pushing east from big metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and San Diego. Also, the [Coachella Valley] is sort of the playground for everybody in the United States, especially wealthy people who...want to get away for the winter. And a lot of these people are starting to retire here."
Sharon, whose company has under construction, in design or recently completed about 528,500 sq. ft. of projects worth nearly $47 million, said that the influx of homebuyers is putting a strain on available property.
"It looks like there is a lot of empty land, but it is all spoken for and in the hands of speculators looking to sell for a profit, or it's in the hands of a developer," he said.
Located about 100 mi. east of Los Angeles, off Interstate 10, the Coachella Valley is a desert zone with nine incorporated cities: Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio and Coachella.
Twenty-five percent growth
Since the 2000 census, the Coachella Valley's population has grown from about 318,000 to 397,000 people and has increased 6 percent in the last year. It is estimated that by 2010, the area will have 500,000 permanent residents.
Through April of this year, the total permitted value of new construction in the valley was $602 million, said Bob Marra, publisher of Wheeler's Publishing, an economic and demographic information company covering the Palm Springs and Coachella Valley region. He said that this figure was off 4 percent from the record $629 million, recorded during the same time period last year.
Marra said that $442 million of the total value is made up by the construction of new single-family housing; $54.4 million is in the commercial/industrial market; $2.4 million is multifamily; and $103.3 million is miscellaneous construction.
"Residential building is going so fast across the desert we can't get enough good people to build our houses," said Ed Kibbey, executive director of the Building Industry Association's desert chapter. "Right now, we are about three months behind on demand."
Kibbey said the current median price of a new detached home in the valley is about $385,000. "If you came in today and wanted to buy a house, the [developers] would say, 'We're going to start building that house in about another three months,' and then you have to wait another four months on top of that, so it will take about seven months to get a new home."
The high profile projects
Highlighting this construction heat wave are projects such as the $700-million Toscana Country Club community, $22.3-million Pavilion at La Quinta, posh Northstar Resort (project cost not released) and $49-million Sheraton Desert Cove.
Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells is being developed by Palm Desert-based Sunrise Co. It will be a 24-hour gated private community with 626 homes, surrounding two world-class Jack Nicklaus-designed 18-hole golf courses, one of which opened this summer.
The homes will be surrounded by 15 lakes and lavish clubhouse facilities. They will range in size from 2,800 to more than 5,400 sq. ft. with a price range between $600,000 to more than $1,700,000.
"Toscana will be...the finest country club we have ever developed," said William Bone, founder and CEO of Sunrise Co., whose business has built more than 11,000 residential units in Coachella Valley since 1970.
The 640-acre project, which broke ground in September 2003, is delivering about eight homes a month and currently has about 128 homes under construction, with more than 50 completed. The houses were designed by Newport Beach-based Ritner Nelson Architects, and the clubhouse was designed by San Diego-based Robert Altevers and Associates. It is scheduled for completion in mid-2010.
The 172,000-sq.-ft. Pavilion at La Quinta, designed by Smith Consulting Architects, is a retail shopping complex consisting of 10 buildings, spread over a 19-acre site. The Mediterranean-styled project will have six major tenants, including Bed Bath & Beyond and Henry's Market, and also feature pedestrian friendly walks and landscaping.
"Pavilion will bring an important upscale, lifestyle-oriented tenant mix to the city," said Mark Weiss, La Quinta assistant city manager.
Georgia-based Thomas Enterprises Inc. broke ground in June and is currently about 50 percent complete, with concrete being poured and utilities work in progress. Located at the northwest corner of California Highway 111 and Adams Street, Pavilion at La Quinta is being built by Little Rock-based Vratsinas Construction Co.
The luxurious Northstar Resort, which broke ground in June in Palm Desert, will feature a 350-room, 5-star hotel, with a 35,000-sq.-ft. ballroom; 550 luxury golf course condos; 56 luxury villas; a 20,000-sq.-ft. spa; 66,000-sq.-ft. golf clubhouse; 150 apartments above 100,000 sq. ft. of office space; and a mixed-use lifestyle center with 325,000 sq. ft. of retail, dining and entertainment space.
Located next to Interstate 10 and Cook Street, Northstar is being developed by Palm Desert-based Northstar Development LLC. Other project team members include Newport Beach-based architects Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo and A.J. Portolesi Construction of Palm Desert.
The development will also showcase an 18-hole Arnold Palmer-designed golf course, which will become the new home of the Chrysler Bob Hope Classic golf tournament. Donated to the event by the H.N. and Francis C. Berger Foundation, the $25-million course will extend over 7,500 yds., more than 400 yds. longer than any current Classic course.
"This is a public-access golf course with the amenities of the best of private clubs in our area," said John Foster, a member of the Classic executive board.
The course will be finished by early next year, and the rest of the resort is scheduled to complete in late-'07.
In Cathedral City, the $49-million Sheraton Desert Cove will add 300 hotel rooms to the city's current stock of 600. Located in the lower cove area of the Cathedral Canyon Mountains, off East Palm Canyon Drive, the project will also offer 24,000 sq. ft. of conference rooms and a 6,000-sq.-ft. spa.
Next to the hotel, golf architects Schmidt-Curley of Scottsdale has designed an 18-hole Fred Couples Championship Golf Course beginning near the Whitewater River and extending into the Cathedral Canyons. A 3,500-sq.-ft. pro shop and 5,000-sq.-ft. golf cart barn will be built at the golf course.
"[The Sheraton Desert Cove] is going to be a real shot in the arm for us," said Cathedral City's Mallotto, "It will be a wonderful addition to the valley for tourism, and it's going to create $1 million plus [a year] in transient occupancy tax, which will go directly to our general fund."
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