Soho House revisits Palm Springs plans nearly three years after cancellation ⋆ The Palm Springs Post

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*A notice on the Soho House website (at left) shows it plans to open in Palm Springs. Renderings of what may have been built here when it was proposed two years ago are at right.*

In a case of “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” Soho House, the exclusive members-only club that in early 2023 abruptly scrapped plans to open in Palm Springs, is once again in discussions with city officials about redeveloping the historic Colony 29 property.

Chris Hadwin, Palm Springs’ director of planning services, confirmed Wednesday that the development team representing Soho House has been working with city staff to advance an application for the seven-acre site in the Historic Tennis Club neighborhood. A reader alerted The Post after noticing that the company had recently began teasing the Palm Springs project on its website.

“Currently, we are awaiting additional technical information in support of the application,” Hadwin said via a city spokesperson.

Any revised proposal would require review and approval by the city’s Planning Commission at a noticed public hearing, though no hearing date has been scheduled. Hadwin said notice would be mailed to property owners within 500 feet of the site and the item would appear on a Planning Commission agenda published on the city’s website.

Hadwin also noted that the applicant plans to resume outreach with nearby residents in the new year, prior to Planning Commission consideration.

The renewed talks mark a shift from February 2023, when backers of the project announced they were abandoning plans to transform the former Burnham Artist Colony into a Soho House property, citing what they described as insurmountable bureaucracy. At the time, city officials said they were surprised by the decision and maintained that staff had been supportive of the proposal and awaiting revised plans.

The Colony 29 property, developed in the late 1920s as an artists’ retreat, sits on the lower slopes of the San Jacinto Mountains and includes several historic homes. Earlier plans called for renovating existing structures to create guest rooms, club amenities, a swim club and restaurant, with off-site parking and shuttle service for members.

Soho House and project representatives have not publicly commented on the renewed discussions or detailed how any revised proposal might differ from the earlier plans.