Indian Wells, Sunrise Plan Resort Complex : Six Luxury Hotels, Golf Courses, Village and Convention Center to Be Developed

A complex that will include six first-class luxury resort hotels with a total of 2,500 to 3,000 rooms, plus three 18-hole championship golf courses, a tennis center and 30-acre village with shops and restaurants is in the planning stages by the city of Indian Wells and the Sunrise Co.

The resort and convention center will be located on a square-mile site north of Fred Waring Drive, on both sides of the extension of Eldorado Drive, owned by the Sunrise Co., a Palm Desert-based developer.

At a recent meeting of the Indian Wells City Council, resolutions of intent were passed which will pave the way for public financing and ownership of the convention center as well as other publicly dedicated improvements within the complex.

Phil Smith, executive vice president at Sunrise Co. said the company is targeting a construction start for spring, 1987, with openings scheduled for the fall of 1988.

The 150,000-square-foot convention and meeting center with 100,000 square feet of exhibit space and 50,000 square feet of meeting, banquet and support facilities will be centrally located within the project.

Development and financing of the six hotels, recreational facilities and resort village will be undertaken by the Sunrise Co. Upon completion, it is estimated that the hotels will generate between $4 million and $5 million in annual room tax revenue to the city.

The planned resort and convention center is immediately adjacent to the Indian Wells Golf Resort, a project that includes a 36-hole golf course site owned by the Redevelopment Agency and leased to the city. Construction of the golf course is nearing completion and development of two or three planned hotel sites is under way.

“It is expected that the Coachella Valley as a whole will benefit from the project,” Mayor Richard Oliphant said. “And because the convention center will be located north of Fred Waring Drive, we do not believe the residential character of our city will be affected. The economic impact of the project is expected to create more than 4,000 direct jobs.”