Council receives alternatives to Wessman plan
Alternatives to developer John Wessman's controversial proposal to renovate the Desert Fashion Plaza in Palm Springs include lower building heights and fewer hotel rooms and condos.
Four alternative plans were submitted to the Palm Springs City Council last week as a part of the Environmental Impact Report for the Museum Market Plaza, which will be ready for review Oct. 1.
The $500 million to $650 million plan is seen by citizens and city officials as a crucial part of the efforts to revitalize downtown Palm Springs, where vacant storefronts are sprouting on every block. The area is a popular destination for tourists and locals from across the Coachella Valley.
Building housing and new shops in downtown Palm Springs will drive the younger demographic that now resides in Indio and La Quinta to Palm Springs, said Haddon Libby, chief financial officer for El Paseo Bank. He said Palm Springs has a large retirement community that lives around downtown that is not spending money in its city. The only way to change the dynamic, Libby said, is to increase the population downtown.
Required by environmental law, the alternatives to the Museum Market Plaza project must be submitted to determine which plans would be the least environmentally damaging, said Nicole Criste, a consultant for Wessman Development who is preparing the report.
The Environmental Impact Report will consider the effects of each alternative plan on downtown. The City Council is free to choose any plan it likes. However, studies are being conducted by the developer to see which will be the most financially feasible.
“(There will be) an alternative review (to see if) the alternative meets the project goals,” Criste said.
She added a fiscal impact report will be included in the Environmental Impact Report — now about one-third finished — to determine what the financial impact of each alternative would be.
“Less intense development generates less revenue and cost to the city,” Criste said.
Libby said Wessman will need density to make its project viable.
“They have to create their own density of the population groups they are looking for to bring in and spend money,” he said.
The following is a look at the plans as presented to the City Council:
Wessman's preferred plan. It includes the following on a sliding scale, which means if there are more hotel rooms, there would be fewer condos, for example. There would be 955 condos, 620 hotel rooms and 400,000 square feet of retail, including a bookstore.
Buildings would range from about 30 feet to 79 feet high, with some additional height for equipment storage. There would be a two-acre, open plaza/park in the center.
No project. This alternative is required to be listed by state law. It will involve refurbishing the Desert Fashion Plaza. The Town & Country Center across the street would be maintained. The only construction would be a 45-room hotel at the southwest corner of Cahuilla Road and Tahquitz Canyon Way, where Wessman planned the Palm Hotel that was overturned last week by the City Council.
Preservation of the Town & Country Center. This plan submitted by the Palm Springs Modern Committee involves preserving the 1948 structure where Zeldaz sits.
However, one building facing Palm Canyon Drive where Grill-A-Burger sits would be be razed to open up the courtyard.
City of Palm Springs plan. This alternative would include 144,000 square feet of retail shops, 40,000 square feet of office space, a 42,500-square-foot supermarket and a 68,000-square-foot movie theater. There would also be 120 condos.
The maximum height would be 57 feet. Building height along Palm Canyon Drive would be 17 and 29 feet. Buildings next to the Hyatt Regency Suites would be 34 feet for the movie theater.
A park would be provided in the center, which Councilman Rick Hutcheson said should be treated as importantly as the shops.
Wessman's alternative plan. The less intense version of the developer's preferred plan would include 765 condos, 300,000 square feet of retail and 255 hotel rooms — 55 at the Palm Hotel site and 200 at the Town & Country site. No building would be higher than 68 feet.
The center plaza with two single-story buildings would remain.
Craig Ewing, Palm Springs director of planning services, said the City Council will need to look at each alternative to decide what the impact to traffic and views would be.
“You have to look at the effects of the project and ask ‘Is it the best fit for the community?'” Ewing said.
Alternatives to developer John Wessman's controversial proposal to renovate the Desert Fashion Plaza in Palm Springs include lower building heights and fewer hotel rooms and condos.
Four alternative plans were submitted to the Palm Springs City Council last week as a part of the Environmental Impact Report for the Museum Market Plaza, which will be ready for review Oct. 1.
The $500 million to $650 million plan is seen by citizens and city officials as a crucial part of the efforts to revitalize downtown Palm Springs, where vacant storefronts are sprouting on every block. The area is a popular destination for tourists and locals from across the Coachella Valley.
Building housing and new shops in downtown Palm Springs will drive the younger demographic that now resides in Indio and La Quinta to Palm Springs, said Haddon Libby, chief financial officer for El Paseo Bank. He said Palm Springs has a large retirement community that lives around downtown that is not spending money in its city. The only way to change the dynamic, Libby said, is to increase the population downtown.
Required by environmental law, the alternatives to the Museum Market Plaza project must be submitted to determine which plans would be the least environmentally damaging, said Nicole Criste, a consultant for Wessman Development who is preparing the report.
The Environmental Impact Report will consider the effects of each alternative plan on downtown. The City Council is free to choose any plan it likes. However, studies are being conducted by the developer to see which will be the most financially feasible.
“(There will be) an alternative review (to see if) the alternative meets the project goals,” Criste said.
She added a fiscal impact report will be included in the Environmental Impact Report — now about one-third finished — to determine what the financial impact of each alternative would be.
“Less intense development generates less revenue and cost to the city,” Criste said.
Libby said Wessman will need density to make its project viable.
“They have to create their own density of the population groups they are looking for to bring in and spend money,” he said.
The following is a look at the plans as presented to the City Council:
Wessman's preferred plan. It includes the following on a sliding scale, which means if there are more hotel rooms, there would be fewer condos, for example. There would be 955 condos, 620 hotel rooms and 400,000 square feet of retail, including a bookstore.
Buildings would range from about 30 feet to 79 feet high, with some additional height for equipment storage. There would be a two-acre, open plaza/park in the center.
No project. This alternative is required to be listed by state law. It will involve refurbishing the Desert Fashion Plaza. The Town & Country Center across the street would be maintained. The only construction would be a 45-room hotel at the southwest corner of Cahuilla Road and Tahquitz Canyon Way, where Wessman planned the Palm Hotel that was overturned last week by the City Council.
Preservation of the Town & Country Center. This plan submitted by the Palm Springs Modern Committee involves preserving the 1948 structure where Zeldaz sits.
However, one building facing Palm Canyon Drive where Grill-A-Burger sits would be be razed to open up the courtyard.
City of Palm Springs plan. This alternative would include 144,000 square feet of retail shops, 40,000 square feet of office space, a 42,500-square-foot supermarket and a 68,000-square-foot movie theater. There would also be 120 condos.
The maximum height would be 57 feet. Building height along Palm Canyon Drive would be 17 and 29 feet. Buildings next to the Hyatt Regency Suites would be 34 feet for the movie theater.
A park would be provided in the center, which Councilman Rick Hutcheson said should be treated as importantly as the shops.
Wessman's alternative plan. The less intense version of the developer's preferred plan would include 765 condos, 300,000 square feet of retail and 255 hotel rooms — 55 at the Palm Hotel site and 200 at the Town & Country site. No building would be higher than 68 feet.
The center plaza with two single-story buildings would remain.
Craig Ewing, Palm Springs director of planning services, said the City Council will need to look at each alternative to decide what the impact to traffic and views would be.
“You have to look at the effects of the project and ask ‘Is it the best fit for the community?'” Ewing said.
