City reviewing plans for a 136-unit apartment complex on former Mesquite Country Club land

While the plot of land once planned to be “the central park of Palm Springs” is still in legal limbo, the owner of an adjacent parcel has submitted plans to build a block of more than 100 new apartment buildings.

In May, the city received an intent-to-convert letter from the owner of a 13-acre parcel of land at the northeast corner of East Mesquite Avenue and South Farrell Drive. The current owner retained the parcel when he sold 120 acres of the former Mesquite Golf and Country Club in 2022 that is now being turned into a nature preserve called Prescott Preserve by Oswit Land Trust (OLT). 

The application, still in the early stages of review at City Hall, is the first step in re-zoning the property from open space to housing, as required when golf course owners seek to use the land for another purpose.

The site currently includes the abandoned clubhouse of the defunct Mesquite Country Club, a parking lot, and golf cart storage.

Early renderings for the project, submitted to the city’s Development Services Department, show 15 two-story multi-family apartment buildings with 136 units to be rented at market rate. Half of the units will have one bedroom and one bathroom, 40% will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and the remaining units will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

In addition to the apartments, the applicant plans to build amenities, including a new swimming pool, dog park, trails, and seating areas. A remodeled clubhouse, to be used as a cafe with additional event space, is also included in the plans, as is a second gated entrance off Farrell Drive.

The land trust announced plans to turn its adjacent acreage into a thriving nature preserve in 2022. Two years later, those plans have stalled amid a protracted legal battle between the Mesquite Country Club Homeowners Association, which represents the owners of the more than 600 condominiums surrounding the property, and OLT. 

Jane Garrison, president of OLT, maintains the ongoing lawsuit prevents the trust from getting a crucial $7 million grant from the California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB). The grant has been up for approval several times in the past year, but each time, it has been removed from the agenda. 

A WCB staff member confirmed recently that the grant approval was not on the WCB’s May agenda because of “unresolved legal liabilities.” 

The HOA claims the plans for a preserve violate their lease, specifically a line in the lease that states that any substantial development of the property requires the HOA’s consent.

The apartment project developers cited that same part of the lease agreement in their letter to the city, writing that “major alterations or new development on the property necessitates approval from the HOA.”

If the housing project comes to fruition it will not set precedent. There are two other former golf courses developers hope to use for housing.

Land formerly occupied by the Palm Springs Country Club could eventually be a housing development. Last month, the city’s Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of an extension for construction of the Serena Park project, which consists of 386 single-family detached homes.

Plans to develop housing at the former Bel Air Greens golf course are currently in limbo. Members of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians own the land and hope to help developers turn the 35-acre parcel into housing despite the wishes of some neighbors and members of OLT.

Palm Springs is one of many cities to recognize the opportunity in the defunct golf courses. Despite a golf boom during and after the pandemic, golf popularity is still decreasing, with an estimated 800 courses closing in the first decade of the 2000s. 

Cities nationwide are using those millions of empty acres, turning them into public parks or mixed-use developments to address the housing shortage. 

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