A proposal to add one of Palm Springs’ tallest buildings to a midtown parking lot took a significant step forward this week, as the city’s Planning Commission advanced a seven-story resort hotel and a nine-story residential tower beside the convention center (in Palm Springs, these are considered high-rise buildings), but only after a tense debate over height, massing, and shadow impacts. The 4–0 vote on Tuesday, September 16, came with a new condition requiring the developer to carve out at least two 20-by-20-foot notches on the nine-story tower to reduce its bulk.
The project by Nexus Development (which, depending on who you ask, may or may not have formerly employed disgraced developer Richard Meaney, who was involved in the former mayor Steve Pougnet’s bribery scandal and trial, to lead its Palm Springs development projects) would feature 125 hotel rooms and 132 for-sale condominiums on a 5.64-acre site at 847 East Andreas Road, along with a 6,040-square-foot standalone restaurant. Owners could place their units into the hotel pool during peak season, allowing the property to “flex” to as many as 257 rooms. The site – now a surface lot between the Hilton and Renaissance hotels – sits within the Section 14 Specific Plan area and was long tied to the “Prairie Schooner” settlement that committed a Nexus affiliate to pursue a hotel there.
At 99.8 feet, the residential tower would come in just under the 100-foot cap allowed in Section 14 with a conditional use permit; staff say the plan meets the Specific Plan’s development standards, including a 132-foot setback from the nearest homes. A shade study shows the greatest new shadow would arrive around the winter solstice.
‘It’s the context for me’: Height and massing dominate debate
Commission Chair Kathy Weremiuk pressed for a deeper context study and design refinements before approval. “It’s the context for me… I want to see… maybe stepbacks or tweaks. The tower that’s hard for me is the nine-story tower,” she said. Vice Chair Lauri Aylaian added, “I think there are a couple of adjustments that need to be made.”
Artists rendering of the proposed new hotel and condo development in midtown Palm Springs near the Convention Center .
Nexus urged the commission to vote rather than continue the hearing. “We’ve worked hard to fit all of the design standards and zoning guidelines. Even further delaying this would seem unnecessary,” said Rob Eres, the company’s vice president of development. In a separate explanation of the model, Eres said the goal is a project “everyone’s proud of” that feeds tourism and supports the convention center and local businesses.
Neighbors at Plaza Villas across Andreas Road argued the building is simply too big for the block and warned of shade impacts during the valley’s busy winter months, a concern echoed in the hearing record and staff analysis. Commissioner David Murphy, however, pointed to the shade study and said the shadows would fall on “a relatively small portion” of the area for a brief window in mornings and late afternoons.
What’s in the plan
The hotel and condos would wrap a central amenities deck with three pools, an event lawn and meeting space; a rooftop social club tops the hotel’s seventh floor. Parking would total 500 spaces, with 100 underground and a five-level, 400-space structure connected to the residential tower, utilizing joint-use ratios to cover the restaurant, ballroom, and club. The project now proceeds to the Architectural Review Committee for detailed design, materials and landscape review.
Environmental review and pushback
City staff recommend approval based on an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration that finds most impacts less than significant with added mitigation for biological resources, cultural resources, geology/soils and transportation. The project would also generate new transient occupancy, sales and property tax revenue, according to staff findings.
But the paper trail includes formal objections. In a public-comment letter attached to the staff report, the group SAFER argued that some mitigation is improperly deferred under CEQA, citing case law on “impermissible deferral.” It urged the city to require a workforce trained in ICRA infection-control protocols. City responses dispute those claims in the record.
Because the site is located on the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians’ reservation land within Section 14, tribal conditions also apply: they want the developer to replace Mexican fan palms with native California fan palms and utilize a tribal cultural resources monitor during any ground disturbance.
The stakes
Proponents frame the project as a long-promised convention-center anchor that stays within the 100-foot high-rise limit of Section 14, provides deep setbacks and open space, and meets the Specific Plan’s intent to focus high-quality visitor-serving uses in the area.
With the sweeping $125 million project to modernize and expand the Palm Springs Convention Center moving forward, the city must succeed in adding hotel room capacity – a situation that has persisted for decades, as the Center cannot effectively compete for conferences that bring large numbers of delegates.
When discussing the Convention Center expansion, city leaders say Palm Springs must modernize to stay competitive. Mayor Ron deHarte said the community “can be very proud” of the stakeholder work underway, but warned, “we’ve lost 77 conventions already.” He added the center “hasn’t kept up… we don’t have the latest technology,” and the city is “already losing future bookings” to larger competitors.
City of Palm Springs Mayor Ron DeHarte
Councilmember Jeffrey Bernstein tied the investment to core city services: “Our TOT is responsible for something like 25% of our general fund… investing in a convention center… pays back by having money to support our parks and public safety.”
Industry expectations are also shifting. As “convention districts” become the norm, planners now look for seamless connections between venues and nearby neighborhoods, offering a variety and a large number of hotel options close by. This is one reason Palm Springs is packaging facility upgrades with a streets-and-placemaking plan.
Opponents – many living across the street from the site – say the skyline-defining height and a large garage will change neighborhood character and winter sun on nearby homes, even if only for parts of the season.
For now, the commission’s compromise, approval with massing cuts, keeps the project moving while leaving the next round of design work to the city’s architecture board. Whether those trims and materials can calm the height fight will be decided in the months ahead.
