As Palm Springs elected officials push to get developers to finish multiple large hotel projects in the city, another one might soon join the fray.
Driving the news: A Canadian developer is considering building a 161-room hotel on a 4.2-acre parcel of Section 14 tribal land off East Tahquitz Canyon Way, between North Avenida Caballeros and North Hermosa Drive. The property is adjacent to the Living Out apartment project, which broke ground in November 2021.
Zoom in: Documents on file with the city show the developer, Yuin Kim of Calgary, Canada, has hired local firm o2 Architecture to design the “Tahquitz Hotel” project. Initial schematic drawings show it would be similar in size and scope to other large hotels in the city, standing three stories high and encompassing more than 85,000 square feet.
- Also planned are a 2,400-square-foot welcome center, a 2,600-square-foot restaurant-bar, a 1,700-squarefoot event space, and a 3,700-square-foot spa and fitness center.
Looking back: City officials and residents have been frustrated in recent years with the lack of progress on four similar projects. In 2021, the city went as far as to threaten legal action to spur action at four work sites. Since then, all but one have been moving forward, although not as quickly as most had hoped.
- While the Thompson Hotel downtown is on pace for a partial opening by the end of this year and the Dream Hotel near the city’s convention center is expected to resume building this fall, the Orchid Tree Hotel downtown remains stalled.
- Buildings erected for bankrupt Tova Hotel and Beach Club project on North Palm Canyon Drive were torn down by the city in the springs of 2021.
Looking ahead: Whether the project will begin to move through the necessary reviews and approvals by the City Council and various commissions remains to be seen. Pre-submittal documents were sent to the city in April, and initial review was completed a month later.
- “Staff sent comments to the applicant on May 23 … but hasn’t received any other correspondence or formal application(s) since that time,” a member of the city’s Department of Planning Services wrote last week.
