Stalled Hotels in Palm Springs Face Legal Action

City Council authorizes City Attorney’s Office to proceed with legal action to force four stalled hotels to complete development

PALM SPRINGS — The Palm Springs City Council has authorized the City Attorney’s Office to proceed with legal action in order to force the owners of four stalled hotels – the Andaz Hotel on Palm Canyon Drive, the Dream Hotel on Amado Road, the Orchid Tree on Belardo Road and the TOVA on North Palm Canyon – to complete those projects.

The action comes as residents grow weary of the perpetual eyesores

The TOVA property, located at 1875 N Palm Canyon Drive, was formerly the Garden Vista Hotel. The original plan first unveiled in 2016 was to renovate and rebrand the land as the Tova Hotel and Beach Club.

In January of 2020, the City Council granted a 90-day extension to the Dream Hotel during which time developers were supposed to work out a construction schedule with strict deadlines that must be met moving forward. Still it is stallled.

All four hotel projects have stalled, resulting in uncompleted projects, according to a news release.

These properties constitute a nuisance to their neighborhoods and to the community at large. In light of the waning COVID-19 numbers and the return of the tourism industry, the city of Palm Springs expects these owners and developers to see these hotel projects to completion.

The City Attorney’s Office will be seeking the appointment of a court-ordered receiver. The receiver will be charged by the court with completing the hotels, or demolishing them if that is determined by the receiver and the court to be most appropriate. While the owners of the property will still own their properties, the costs of the receivers and the costs of the completion or demolition will be borne by the property owners themselves.

“The city of Palm Springs is always willing to work with our property owners,” Mayor Christy Holstege said in a prepared statement. But, at some point, if those property owners do not do what is right for their neighbors and the rest of the city, we are forced to use whatever legal tools are available to us, in order to protect our residents, businesses and visitors.”