Rancho Mirage is a city known for its resorts, clubs and golfing opportunities. All in the Colorado desert of California. Or at least, it has been until now. For a while now, the town has been known for something else. There, on its streets, a new city is being built from scratch; a vast housing complex of over 250 acres will add more than 1,900 homes and will feature parks, walking paths and even a lagoon of about 10 acres with promoters. Crystal Lagoons promises that it will transform the place into a “great oasis” of “turquoise waters” thanks to its technology.

Nothing extraordinary so far. The question is who is behind this new desert city: Disney, which has already promised to wrap itself in its “magic”.

Live at Disney (literally). We will talk to you about Disney’s real estate plans in 2022. If there is one thing that the mouse company has shown, it is that it loves to diversify its business, which already goes far beyond animation, into the cruise sector, tourist complexes, commerce … or the world of real estate. Walt Disney himself once dreamed of a “utopian city” called Epcot.

Some time ago, thinking of his followers who could not enjoy the Disney universe on the big and small screen, on cruise ships or in theme parks, he decided to launch Storyliving by Disney, a project made up of residential communities where “the Disney touch is fundamental” or, in the words of the company, “everything”.

What does this mean? Disney to the core. While it was revealed when Disney announced its new business unit that the projects would involve landowners, developers, and builders (including firms like DMB Development), the idea is for Storyliving’s planned communities to feature spaces designed by Disney creators, and for residents to join clubs that have their own “special experiences” in their own universe. And let me show you a button: One of the clubs it’s already designed is inspired by “The Incredibles.”

From theory… In fact, that’s what the company is already doing with its first Storyliving community, Cotino, a complex of more than 1,900 homes, including single-family homes and condos, that will span more than 80 acres in Rancho Mirage, Coachella Valley, near Palm Springs.

In addition to the famous building inspired by the Parr family home in “The Incredibles,” the small California town of Disney will feature businesses, neighborhoods for residents over 55 (a market the multinational is particularly interested in), and dining. The Castle: A 24-acre lagoon of “turquoise waters” with a boardwalk and beaches.

Beyond infographics. Both Storyliving and Cotino residential communities in particular were introduced some time ago. If they are now back in the news, it is due to the progress they have made. Both in the offices, whose pre-sale phase opened at the end of last year, and in the land.

Lately Los Angeles Times It released a report showing that the Rancho Mirage property already has runways, structures, trucks, cranes and shovels, along with a large concrete area. Progress on the site between Frank Sinatra Dr and Bob Hope Dr can even be seen with the help of Google Earth. The newspaper calculates that once Cotino is complete, the Disney homes will represent nearly a fifth of the housing park in Rancho Mirage.

For selected pocketsThe commercialization phase is also progressing. Although the giant lagoon is not expected to be ready for two years, Los Angeles Times He’s assured that the first batch of 300 homes has been built, and the goal is for the first residents of Rancho Mirage’s new mega-neighborhood to be able to settle into their own whimsical Disney dreamscape soon, by early 2025.

It won’t be cheap. The homes cost between one and two million dollars above the average price in the area, not counting the extra cost of using the Storyliving clubs, and the fact that organizers have already warned that there will be private beaches for Artisan Club members, and Cotino Bay Beach, an independent sandy area, is accessible to guests…for a fee, of course.

A dream for everyone? No. Not everyone is welcoming Cotino’s progress. Some in the slowly-forming California desert town of Rancho Mirage are upset that the work is causing “pollution, chaos and havoc” in what was until recently “a peaceful and serene place.”

This is how it was transferred Los Angeles Times Mark Wolpa, a recent resident who moved to the town after leaving San Francisco in 2008, says: In addition to the hustle and bustle of construction, Disney’s new mega-neighborhood is also wowing with its large indoor pool, located in a desert area where water-use restrictions are not unusual. “When I started seeing reports of a big lagoon, everyone was ripping up their lawns and putting in artificial turf.”

Other residents interviewed by the newspaper also expressed concern about the impact of the work on local fauna and flora, or that the homes being built were designed for people with more affordability. “Nothing is being built for low-income people,” said Bill Miller, a gardener who bought a property in Palm Springs a quarter of a century ago. “Everything that goes into it is over a million dollars,” another resident said. “This is Disney, so we know it will be done right, but is it going to be part of the community or is it going to take over?”

Images | Google Earth, Disney Parks (YouTube) and Storyliving by Disney

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