Master Plan Proposed for Palm Desert

Ahmanson Commercial Development Co., Los Angeles, has proposed a master plan to develop 123 acres in Palm Desert--most of the remaining vacant land in the city’s core--for commercial uses.

The plan, making its way through the city’s approval process, has met with “a favorable response” from Palm Desert officials, according to Kirby Warner, assistant city manager and economic development director.

The largest parcel, comprising 105 acres in four parcels, faces the south side of California 111 between El Paseo and Fred Waring Drive, according to Gregory M. Simon, director of retail centers for Ahmanson Commercial Development. Retail, restaurant, office and family recreational development is planned for the site, with 57 acres devoted to open space, he said.

A 10-acre site on El Paseo--the “Rodeo Drive of the Desert”-- will be developed as a high-fashion retail complex, while an 8.3-acre site at Fred Waring Drive and Town Center Way, behind the Palm Desert Town Center, will complement the mall and Ahmanson’s recently completed 150,000-square-foot One Eleven Town Center, Simon said. Ahmanson Commercial Development is a subsidiary of Home Savings of America.