Palm Springs poised to approve $4 million Town & Country purchase for new fire station

The Palm Springs City Council next week will consider approving a $4 million agreement to acquire a portion of the historic Town & Country Center for construction of a new Fire Station No. 1, advancing negotiations first disclosed in April.

The proposed purchase would give the city roughly 0.95 acres along Indian Canyon Drive, including the center courtyard, portions of the historic complex and land currently occupied by apartment buildings slated for demolition.

The agreement identifies the city’s intended use of the property as a municipal fire station and would allow the city to proceed with environmental review, lot-line adjustments and other approvals needed before construction could begin.

The proposal advances a process that became public earlier this year when the council began meeting in closed session to discuss acquiring portions of the property. At the time, preservation advocates said city officials had informed them the site was being considered as a replacement for the aging Fire Station No. 1, located nearby on Indian Canyon Drive.

The agreement includes language stating the sale is occurring under the threat of condemnation. According to the document, the city informed Grit Development, the property’s owner, that it was prepared to pursue eminent domain if negotiations failed. Grit Development states in the agreement that it believed a forced sale was likely and agreed to the transaction to avoid potential condemnation litigation.

The agreement further states that Grit considers the sale price to be below market value and, in exchange, negotiated a right of first refusal that would allow the company to match any future offer if the city ever decides to sell the property.

If approved, the purchase would effectively split ownership of the historic Town & Country Center between the city and Grit, a significant property owner in the downtown core and responsible for redeveloping a large portion of downtown.

The agreement acknowledges that portions of the center were designed to function as a unified architectural complex and notes that future rehabilitation work performed by the city would not automatically require restoration work on the privately owned portions that remain. That provision could draw scrutiny from preservation advocates who have spent years pushing for improvements to the deteriorating sections of the landmark property.

Designed by architects Paul R. Williams and A. Quincy Jones, the Town & Country Center has been designated a Class 1 Historic Site by the city since 2016. While portions of the complex facing Palm Canyon Drive have seen gradual improvements, several buildings facing Indian Canyon Drive have remained vacant or underutilized for years, including the two-story building that once housed Zelda’s Nightclub, which has struggled to attract tenants despite multiple redevelopment efforts.

The agreement also calls for the demolition of two apartment buildings containing six residential units before the sale closes. Grit would retain transferable affordable housing credits associated with those units that could be applied to future development elsewhere in Palm Springs.

The city would also lease 11 parking spaces from the remaining shopping center property for at least five years to support operations at the future fire station. The agreement additionally establishes a framework for shared access, utilities and maintenance responsibilities between the city-owned parcel and the privately owned remainder of the center.

The transaction would still require completion of a lot-line adjustment, environmental review and other governmental approvals before it can close. Under the proposed agreement, the sale must be completed by Dec. 31.

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