Palm Springs, the small town with the international reputation, is riding the crest of au courant research and vision for 21st century downtown planning and urban development.

Today, the most sought-after commodity among Generation Xers and baby boomers alike is one you can’t put in a shopping bag. What they are after is a great experience, and they will spend big money in their quest to achieve it. Authenticity is key.
On cue, the Spa City’s famous downtown village is transforming into the entertainment, cultural/ lifestyle center model favored by the world’s most respected shopping experts, among them retail anthropologist Paco Underhill.

Instead of talking about traditional retail anchors, that passé concept has been replaced by a dynamic mixed-use environment where people live and enjoy cultural, entertainment, and dining experiences interspersed with an exciting collection of retail stores.

“Planning and research efforts going back many years are now taking shape, and residents and visitors can see and touch the expanding choices they have, whether they are looking for entertainment, housing, or hotels,” says John Raymond, the city’s director of community and economic development.

“Cities everywhere are scrambling to create a downtown village environment with museums, theater complexes, concert shells, and other attractions to draw people in and develop foot traffic,” Raymond adds. “Some cities are investing millions to just have one or two attractions. Palm Springs should be proud. It has similar attractions, some for decades and more on the way. Unlike most valley cities, it has always been a place to walk, especially in downtown.”

Majestic yet close-up the San Jacinto Mountains have framed Palm Canyon Drive since the late 19th century, when the then dirt road was still called Main Street. Always a people magnet, the mountains just may be the ultimate but unaccredited downtown anchor.

A number of visionaries understood that culture and entertainment were vital to the residents, second-home owners, and visitors who are ingredients of the complex demographic and psychographic Palm Springs cocktail.

Architect E. Stewart Williams’ magnificent Palm Springs Art Museum has been the cultural linchpin of the entire desert for decades. With an east-west corridor opening
in a few years from its front steps, across Palm Canyon Drive and past the elegant Spa Casino and onto the reborn and expanded convention center, the museum finally will have its rightful visual prominence from Palm Canyon Drive.

Exciting Cirque-style entertainment, with acrobats and jugglers, is coming to downtown Palm Springs in mid-December, when the new Palm Springs Pavilion Theatre opens at Desert Fashion Plaza, across from Palm Springs Art Museum’s main entrance.
The venue is the creative brainchild of Dick Taylor, maestro of Dick Taylor Productions. Taylor will present eight to nine shows a week into May, accommodating an audience of 1,000 in stadium-style seating. Musicals, concerts, and comedy will comprise the spring and summer event.

Taylor, who believes good marketing is synergy, will take another step to tie in other downtown entertainment venues, such as the museum’s Annenberg Theater as well as Riff Markowitz’s Fabulous Palm Springs Follies at the Historic Plaza Theatre, also within walking distance.

New Palm Canyon Drive signage and trees, aglow with twinkle lights, will identify the entertainment district.

“We have had wonderful cooperation and support from both the City and property owner John Wessman,” says Taylor. “John leased us the land for $1 a year; and the merchants, restaurateurs, and hoteliers show great enthusiasm. They’re creating special packages with us to attract customers who will extend their downtown stay.”
An expansion of the convention center has revealed a stunning metamorphosis. The $34 million project, designed by Denver-based Fentress Bradburn Associates, almost turned the center on its ear. Now facing the mountain, it has the “wow” mountain view convention goers have always deserved.

The 145,000-square-foot, recently completed center has panoramic mountain views from its 18,000-square-foot lobby and a huge covered patio, where the roof is supported by variegated rock pillars with palm-tree patterned copper fascia. The architecture celebrates nature’s curvaceous lines. The reception-area carpeting is the color and texture of shifting sands. All this adds up to another one-of-a-kind Palm Springs experience.

The elegant Spa Resort Casino, open two years, is another of the city’s most popular attractions. Considered to be the most beautiful casino in the area, it offers a lavish buffet and steakhouse, appealing to both slot players and high roller card players. Nearby is an excellent example of the sophisticated housing the Tribe is planning for Section 14. Called Alejo Vista, it is a unique 14-unit condominium project by developer Dennis Freeman.

Tribal efforts now focus on The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, destined to be one of the most important cultural attractions in the West. This will be the soul of Section 14 and an incredible asset for the entire city. The nonprofit cultural museum will be a catalyst and inspiration for future high-quality development in Section 14.

The 107,419-square-foot complex will be in the heart of Section 14, one block east of the convention center. It will have a theater and changeable interactive displays, serving as a kind of tribal elder to preserve and pass on the Agua Caliente traditions.“The Section 14 site demonstrates the tribe’s desire to emphasize our heritage and culture, which will be exemplified by the grand boulevard of Indian culture that Tahquitz Canyon Way eventually will become,” says Tribal Chairman Richard Milanovich, who says the new museum will attract 150,000 visitors annually when it opens in 2008.

The tribe also has plans to rebuild the Spa Resort Hotel in the next few years in conjunction with the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum opening.

“Today’s hotel story is another exciting chapter in the city’s history,” John Raymond says. “Just look at the hotels coming on board. We’ve had wonderful remodels involving boutique hotels in recent years; but, until now, we haven’t had any large renovations or new hotels for 10 years.”

Hotel developers are sophisticated investors, Raymond explains. In the case of Palm Springs, they see how the expanded convention center will attract larger groups and how there will be a greater need for upscale rooms and suites for top corporate executives as well. It’s also clear, he says, that once a town has multiple “must-see” attractions, visitors stay longer.

Raymond predicts the $24 million poured into a makeover of the former Marquis Hotel should pay off handsomely for Hotel Zoso, opening this fall. The City is also working on developing a four-star hotel near the convention center on a redevelopment agency-owned parcel.

Golf is an incomparable desert experience. There will be resort hotels geared to golfers; and in the case of city-owned Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort, its planned hotel adjacent to Knott’s Soak City will attract golfers and active family vacationers alike.
Lennar’s new Escena community on 360 acres at Gene Autry Trail and Vista Chino will add hundreds of golf course homes. Models will be open soon, and a hotel is in the planning stage.

The Indian Oasis Resort, featuring a championship golf course, a 400-room hotel and 290 residential units, has been approved by the City. The developer is finalizing financing for the project to be located adjacent to the Mid-Valley Parkway. It will serve as a complete destination resort with a hotel, casitas, meeting rooms, outdoor venues, and championship golf course.

Indian Canyons Golf Resort has been open almost a year on the south end of town. At the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains, it has one of the most beautiful settings in the desert. It, too, has a future hotel site planned for its South Palm Canyon location.
Raymond says the experience that tops off everything is “living here.” With young retirees moving to Sunbelt cities and young executives buying second homes, Palm Springs has had one of its biggest homebuilding seasons since the 1970s. New homes, harbingers of downtown’s growing mixed-use future, are popping up on in-fill lots within walking distance of Palm Canyon Drive.

Palm Springs Modern Homes has several exciting housing examples, such as The Villas at Old Palm Springs at the west end of Tahquitz and 48@Baristo and 48@Arenas in Section 14.

The last large remaining residential areas on the east and north sides of the city are now being developed, while outlying shopping areas are being redefined to suit the many sets of complex customers who make up this high-profile market.
“Retailers are no longer attracted by income alone but rather the intersection of income and lifestyle,” says Raymond, whose staff has worked closely in recent years with The Buxton Company, a national industry leader in customer analysis and retail site selection.

“Buxton studied our market and showed us in incredible demographic and psychographic detail how we have a complicated market sliced many ways among those who live here year-around, second-home owners, and visitors,” Raymond says.
Palm Springs learned it has enough large segments within 15-minute drives to appeal to a wide range of retailers.

Wal-Mart Supercenter, capturing a multicity market, will open next door to Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse on Ramon Road at the east end of the city. Office Depot, Bank of America, Wendy’s, and PetSmart are also proposed for the site. Across the street, The Springs will have a number of retail outlets and, notably, will feature The Home Depot in a 400,000-square-foot center.

Smoketree Village at East Palm Canyon Drive and Sunrise Way is one of the city’s successful and established centers close to large new condo and apartment complexes. It will expand to serve the growing neighborhood. An undeveloped Section 14 parcel at Tahquitz and Sunrise Way soon will become a center with a flagship Vons and several smaller outlets.

Today’s planning emphasis on downtown experiences resonates with this city’s history and natural gifts, whether spotting film stars, meeting a future spouse or hiking the Indian Canyons for the first time.

Memories of great Palm Springs’ experiences long outlast the latest fashions. It’s comforting to know there are favorites to savor and new ones to anticipate.