By Pamela Bieri

Palm Desert is more than the geographical heart of the Coachella Valley; here beats its vital economic pulse. World-class resorts and golf courses, unparalleled shopping, and dining options, business and educational opportunities, outstanding cultural and public amenities, and a wide range of housing choices make Palm Desert the heartbeat of the desert region.

Just a little over 30 years old, this young, sophisticated city rapidly ascended as the desert’s most desirable place to live, work, learn, and play. Palm Desert’s economic vitality is based on strong retail/commercial development, tourism and resort industry leadership, and emerging higher education institutions.

Many of the desert’s largest employers are located in Palm Desert, including Westfield Palm Desert, Desert Springs, a JW Marriott Resort, and College of the Desert, as well as dozens of light industrial and service companies along the Cook Street corridor and Country Club at Washington industrial parks. Nearly a quarter of all valley residents work in this city. Shaping the North Sphere With a permanent population of nearly 50,000, Palm Desert is the second-largest city in the Coachella Valley.

Growth is now quickly expanding into its “north sphere,” the raw, undeveloped acreage that extends from Frank Sinatra Drive to Interstate 10, flanked by Monterey Avenue and Cook Street. The city’s General Plan, a 20-year guideline adopted in 2004, calls for developing this area with a balance of commercial and industrial developments, homes, public parks, schools, and open land. With approximately 11.5 million square feet of commercial development, the Monterey Avenue/Interstate 10 corridor is expected to become a major shopping destination for the entire valley.

Desert Gateway shopping center is now under construction at the southeast corner of Monterey Avenue and Dinah Shore Drive. With Santa Barbara Mission-style architecture, the 221,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter and 154,000-square-foot Sam’s Club will anchor the 70-acre Desert Gateway. The center will encompass nearly 700,000 square feet of leased space, making it the second-largest retail center in the valley after Westfield Palm Desert.

Just south of Desert Gateway at Monterey Avenue and Frank Sinatra Drive, Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse is constructing a 135,000-square-foot store. Further south on Monterey, a high-end gourmet grocery store is slated to fill the Albertson’s vacancy at Plaza de Monterey at Country Club Drive.

Site work has begun for The Village at University Park, a mixed-use project directly across from the Cal State Palm Desert and UCR Heckmann Center campuses. The project will include four retail buildings, five office buildings, a drive-through restaurant, and 130-room hotel. Within the two-mile University Park area, plans include 4,000 single-family residences, and 1,500 multifamily apartment units.

“Our strategy is to develop a flexible project that is first geared to people in their cars, and then

capitalize on the residential growth planned for the surrounding area and the student body of the universities as they expand,” says Fred Evans of The Evans Co., developer of The Village.

Supporting the city’s principal industry, tourism, the Redevelopment Agency is in negotiations with a high-end resort developer to build a resort hotel and timeshares at Desert Willow Golf Resort. The complex will include a spa, restaurants, large-scale conference center, and meeting facilities to address the needs of both business and leisure travelers.

Community Support and Business Revitalization

As its population increases, Palm Desert strives to ensure a wide range of attractive and affordable housing, including single-family homes, multifamily, and senior housing, as well as country club living.

Currently under renovation is California Villas, a 141-unit complex on California Avenue, and Laguna Palms, a 48-unit multifamily complex on Santa Rosa Way. Palm Village Apartments, a 36-unit affordable-housing project also located on Santa Rosa Way, is under construction and is expected to be complete by March 2006. On Hovley Lane East, a community of 93 single-family homes for low- to moderate-income families is planned as well as a 26-unit affordable senior housing apartment complex.

The city is also committed to revitalizing existing properties. Its Façade Enhancement Program, initiated four years ago, provides matching grants of up to $35,000 to help upgrade parking, façades, lighting, landscaping, and signage on older retail and commercial properties along Highway 111 and El Paseo.

Some 19 businesses have had “face lifts” since the program began, according to Justin McCarthy, assistant city manager for redevelopment. Most recently completed were Chapman’s Men’s Wear on El Paseo and El Paseo Square.

Leading Higher Education

For more than 40 years, College of the Desert’s multifaceted community and business programs have attracted students to Palm Desert from throughout the valley and beyond. When Palm Desert donated 200 acres at Cook Street and Gerald Ford Drive for the University Park campus, city leaders could clearly see that higher education strengthens economic vitality.

Now the site of the Coachella Valley’s first four-year university — California State University, San Bernardino — along with the Heckmann Center for Entrepreneurship, University of California at Riverside, Palm Desert is the valley’s leader in higher education.

To date, two buildings comprise the Cal State campus. Taking shape is a third building, the health sciences building, designed by MCI Architects, award-winning designers of education, health-care, and government facilities.

“I am particularly pleased that College of the Desert and the Palm Desert Campus will be using the same firm on their new health-care buildings, as it should continue to reinforce our working relationship and program coordination and ease of transfer of students to our campus for their upper-division health-care studies,” said Fred Jandt, dean of CSUSB’s Palm Desert Campus. CSUSB will link other selected services and programs with College of the Desert.

The Cal State campus is a public-private partnership. It will eventually serve up to 25,000 students both on campus and off; include schools of education, social and behavioral sciences, engineering, natural sciences, business, and humanities; and employ some 3,200 full-time faculty, managers, professionals, technicians, and administrative staff. Academic studies will likely serve as a catalyst for other ventures and enterprises, such as research and development in water technology, alternative energy and hydrogen fuels, natural resources, and other areas.

The UCR Heckmann Center campus started this fall offering post-graduate programs, a master in business Administration for entrepreneurial management, and master of fine arts for creative writing and writing for the performing arts. A full slate of conferences, lecture series, seminars, and special events will be offered this year. In addition to the Heckmann Center is the Education Building with a 300-seat theater on 20 acres at Frank Sinatra and Cook streets.

College of the Desert is poised to expand over the next decade thanks to the Bond B Measure that granted $346.5 million to the community college system. A master plan is in the works for five new buildings and renovating the infrastructure of the 43-year-old campus. Set to open in 2007 or 2008 are a health-care building that will double the capacity for nursing and health science students, and a new public safety building expected to become the new training center for Riverside County police and firefighters.

Future plans are for flanking a new main entrance on Monterey Avenue with two administrative buildings; adding an information technology center for computer sciences and classrooms; and another building for Alumni Association headquarters.

New off-campus programs include a customer service training center at Westfield Palm Desert, where new and entry-level employees train on computerized cash registers and learn customer service techniques.

Serious Shopping

Westfield Palm Desert, the region’s largest enclosed shopping mall anchored by Macy’s, Sears, and JC Penney, recently completed a $50 million renovation and expansion. The city invested nearly $10 million for two multilevel parking structures. The full-line, 124,000-square-foot Sears opened last fall; and a 20,000-square-foot Macy’s Home Store opened in January.

However, a major shift at Westfield will occur when Robinsons-May stores close in 2006 as part of a merger with Federated Department Stores, which owns Macy’s.

“This gives us a great opportunity to redevelop and improve the quality of department stores at Westfield,” says Noreen Bowen, general manager of the retail center.

El Paseo — the elegant mile-long mix of art galleries, jewelry stores, haute couturiers, home décor, specialty boutiques, and restaurants — continues attracting upscale national retailers.

The Gardens on El Paseo, the trendy garden-centered shopping and dining complex, is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue and contains high-end national retailers such as Tiffany’s, Ann Taylor, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, J. Jill, Banana Republic, Sharper Image, Talbot’s, and Brooks Brothers.

Davis Land Co., which owns and manages The Gardens on El Paseo, has recently purchased the block of retail buildings to the west. Plans for redeveloping the 35,000 square feet of space that includes three restaurants, art galleries, and stores are not yet concrete, according to The Gardens Manager Bob Fliday.

 “Our continued investment in El Paseo is an indication of our company’s belief in the success of the street and the city of Palm Desert,” says Fliday.

More than a dozen other shopping centers and plazas in Palm Desert include Desert Crossing and One Eleven Town Center, which boast nationally known “big box” retailers for clothing, sporting goods, home furnishings, electronics, and toys for every age. At the weekend COD Street Fair, shoppers can find the usual to the exotic in an open-air market.

The convenient, free Shopper Hopper whisks shoppers between retail centers and Palm Desert and Indian Wells hotels, as well as The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens during the season. Three bright yellow Courtesy Carts also shuttle shoppers along El Paseo’s 300 stores and restaurants.

Arts, Culture, and Just Plain Fun

Palm Desert’s mix of art, culture and lively entertainment provides vitality and balance for an enviable quality of life.

The McCallum Theatre features world-class music, dance, and theatrical productions during its season and introduces young audiences to the performing arts with a popular summer camp.

Palm Desert’s annual calendar of events includes the Summer of Fun outdoor concert and movies series; the Golf Cart Parade, a fun-filled, 40-year-old tradition; and more than 140 works of public art with free, guided tours available.

To learn more about business opportunities in the city of Palm Desert, call Ruth Ann Moore, economic development manager, at (760) 346-0611 or visit online at www.cityofpalmdesert.org.

Story from the 2005/2006 Edition of FOCUS on the Coachella Valley, produced by Palm Springs Life Magazine for the Riverside County Economic Agency. Distributed in the Palm Springs Life October 2005 Magazine. More information available at http://www.rivcoeda.org/