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Developer revives
Cathedral City hotel
plan
Written by
Colin Atagi
The Desert Sun
6:27 AM, May. 16, 2011|
Just off one of the busiest roads in the valley lie 18 acres of dusty, vacant property, surrounded by a chain-link fence to keep trespassers out.
By now, the lot two blocks east of City Hall edging south off East Palm Canyon Drive was to have been transformed into an upscale hotel, the kind that draws
businesspeople and affluent travelers who don't mind spending more for thickly padded mattresses and attentive service.
But a series of obstacles, including delays related to a proposed golf course and the crush of the recession, scuttled the plans,
which have been discussed since the late 1990s.
Now, a Los Angeles-based developer is moving aggressively to revive the downtown hotel idea and says he is ready to spend as
much as $125 million on the project.
While city officials say they're excited about the possibilities, they're also cautious. They've been through negotiations with
various developers over the years, only to see all the plans turn to dust.
City officials last month gave Los Angeles-based Sonnenblick Development 120 days to complete a feasibility study.
The company's chairman says it's done — three months ahead of schedule.
“Now we're just working on getting our approvals from Cathedral City to build,” developer Robert Sonnenblick said.
Sonnenblick said the project no longer includes development of nearby land for an 18-hole golf course.
It's also not going to be a Sheraton hotel, a name that's been attached to the project for years.
“It will not be a Sheraton; you can quote me on that,” he said. “We're going a full level higher than Sheraton.”
He wouldn't mention names, only that he was meeting with three “major national hotel brands.”
The proposed 300,000-square-foot hotel could have about 330 rooms and be four stories tall. Earlier plans called for six floors, he said.
There would also be 50,000 square feet for meeting and conference rooms and ballrooms, as well as spas and a garden for weddings.
He wants to bring his plans to city leaders this summer for approval; officials say it's too early to say if they will move forward with the designs.
According to Mayor Kathy DeRosa, the developer “has given council a level of confidence that he can make the hotel happen.”
But how the project will be financed
remains a question.
Sonnenblick said he'll look for money once the plans and permits have been approved.
But City Councilman Greg Pettis said Sonnenblick already “has everything a bank would want to see to loan the money.”
If the plans move forward, it will be a positive step for a project that has been more than a decade in the making.
If they don't, city officials may continue to endure the often-asked question: When is the Sheraton coming?
“They've been talking about it for years,” said Crystal Lamden, who lives in a northern part of the Cathedral City Cove just west of the hotel site.
“I'm not sure I want to hear construction noise outside my window, but at least do it
or don't.
“At least it's better than an empty lot.”
‘Nothing clicked'
The process hasn't been easy for city leaders ever since they began meeting with developers in 2000.
“Nothing really clicked,” City Councilman Greg Pettis said, adding that about four developers were interviewed over the years.
The project moved forward in 2001 when officials announced the Sheraton brand name would be attached to it.
The development agreement expired several times, and the city continued to extend the relationship with the Sheraton.
As part of its redevelopment plan to
revitalize downtown, the city bought about 60 parcels in 2002 and relocated about 140 people from the building site, which
once included homes, a night club and Italian restaurant.
About five years ago, the city formed its own nonprofit organization, the City Urban
Revitalization Corporation, to sell revenue bonds to build the hotel and to contract with a management company to operate it.
But the economy imploded, financing dried up and nearly $12 million in redevelopment agency money was taken by the state to help close a budget shortfall.
The plans were also snarled by delays in permitting the construction of the golf course, which previous developers said
was integral to the hotel.
$1M in tax revenue
With the economy recovering, city leaders say they are determined to bring the new hotel to Cathedral City.
“A major hotel with conference facilities has long been the focal point of our downtown
development as a destination point to bring people into the downtown to patronize and support other commercial development,”
DeRosa said. “That focus continues.”
The hotel is expected to raise at least $1 million annually in tax revenue and increase business for the nearby Mary Pickford and
Desert IMAX theatres, which would reduce the city's subsidies of those operations.
But which businesses benefit will depend on who stays at the hotel, said Palm Springs Convention Center and Bureau of Tourism Executive Director James Canfield.
“It all comes back to having the overall destination and environment that's going to
appeal to the clientele you're going to have at the property,” he said. “It's just a matter of kind of matching your audiences.”
Canfield agreed, though, that a hotel is a “key component” to establishing a destination site and that it could attract people who are not only interested in visiting Cathedral City, but the entire Coachella Valley.
Nick Molloy, manager of the Roger Dunn Golf Shops, said he thinks a hotel would benefit the area, especially if it has a golf
course. His store is at 69-048 Highway 111, a short walk from the hotel site.
“It won't hurt a bit,” he said. “If you're looking to revitalize the area, a resort would be one way to do it.”
But not if its development costs the city money, Molloy said.
“The big thing is, how much the city would have to put into it,” he said. “It's not the best use of dollars.”
If Sonnenblick officially comes on board as the developer, the city will sell the property to him, Pettis said.
The price of the land and the terms would have to be negotiated.
Sonnenblick said he will look for funding when and if the city accepts his proposals, he said.
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