Two long-stalled Palm Springs hotel projects are moving forward on schedule

Longtime Palm Springs residents have spent decades waiting to learn the ultimate fate of the Dream Hotel project — and the decade-old Orchid Tree Hotel proposal isn’t far behind on the list of long-delayed hotels. Meanwhile, a new drive-thru is also underway in the city, stirring up tensions over whether the future of Palm Springs is centered on walkability and climate change adaptation or car-oriented fast food chains.

Below, The Post has rounded up the latest on three key developments currently underway in the city: Chick-fil-A, the Dream Hotel, and the Orchid Tree Hotel. 

Chick-fil-A

The Palm Springs Planning Commission approved plans for a Chick-fil-A drive-thru restaurant in The Springs Shopping Center back in March 2025, following lengthy discussions about whether new drive-thrus fit into the city’s sustainability goals and pedestrian safety. The commission ultimately approved the project with a reduced number of drive-thru lanes. 

The fast-food chicken chain has also faced opposition in progressive Palm Springs for its history of donations to anti-LGBTQ+ organizations. 

Following the Planning Commission approval, in May 2025 the city’s Architectural Review Committee tentatively approved design plans for the restaurant, while also requiring some modifications to better protect employees and customers from the harsh desert sun, such as extended overhangs. 

Just over a year later, Chick-fil-A is now “currently in the process of obtaining necessary permits to demolish the existing building and begin construction,” Christopher Hadwin, the city’s director of planning services, wrote in an email to The Post. Hadwin added that the city expects the company “could obtain permits shortly.”

The restaurant is “slated to open next year, pending any delays,” according to a statement Chick-fil-A provided to the Palm Springs Post. “We look forward to serving the Palm Springs community and sharing an opening date, once confirmed,” the statement continues. 

The Palm Springs opening will mark the third Chick-fil-A location in the valley, following the opening of the restaurant’s Palm Desert and la Quinta locations. The Palm Springs location is expected to operate from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and be closed on Sundays, in line with the brand’s nationwide policy. 

Dream Hotel 

The Dream Hotel at 450 South Calle Alvarado was first approved as a mixed-use development with a hotel and residential condos back in 2007. 

For nearly two decades, the project has gone through various iterations and stages of the planning process, while facing repeated timeline delays and a recent $80 million cost overrun as of last year. 

The current version of the project under development includes 155 hotel rooms and 89 condos and townhomes. 

In March, the Palm Springs City Council approved a new performance timeline agreement with the developer that intends to enhance accountability and hold the developer’s “feet to the fire a bit more closely,” Seth Merewitz, an attorney representing the city, said at the March council meeting. 

The new performance timeline added more frequent milestone deadlines and community outreach commitments, such as regular neighborhood meetings. The timeline also pushed the target completion date back to Dec. 2028, from an earlier date of Dec. 2026.

As of this month, the project seems to be continuing to chug along on schedule, according to Hadwin. 

“Dream Hotel is working closely with various City departments to obtain the necessary permits to begin on-site work and construction,” wrote Hadwin in an email to the Palm Springs Post. 

Orchid Tree Hotel 

The same goes for the similarly long-stalled Orchid Tree Hotel at 261 South Belardo Road. 

The city council also approved an amended performance timeline agreement with the Orchid Tree Hotel’s developer in March. As with the Dream Hotel, the agreement laid out more frequent milestone requirements and accountability check-ins. But unlike the Dream Hotel, the new timeline came just a year after the city entered a covenant agreement with the developer establishing a set of required milestones. 

The new agreement approved in March shifted some of those milestone dates after the developer’s initial planning application was deemed incomplete. Because the original agreement included allowed the applicant time to fix any default with their application, the timeline for all project milestones was shifted forward accordingly to provide this time. 

The new timeline set a date for the project to receive entitlements in mid-October, with the deadline for the start of construction in January 2028 and a certificate of occupancy in June 2030.

Orchid Tree is currently on track with this timeline, according to Hadwin. 

“Orchid Tree continues to work diligently with the Planning Department to obtain the necessary entitlements and are currently on track to meet the milestones approved by City Council,” wrote Hadwin. 

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