L.A.-based developers plan $45 Million, 35-acre resort near site of Coachella festival

A pair of Los Angeles investors are hoping to seize on the growing popularity of Coachella. 

Stuart Rubin, chief executive of real estate investment firm RP Realty Partners, and entertainment lawyer Gary Stiffelman, who has represented Lady Gaga, Eminem and Justin Timberlake, according to Bloomberg, are planning a 35-acre hotel project near the site of the festival.

The 35-acre resort will feature a hip hotel that will not only cater to the hugely popular festivals but serve as a recreation attraction help develop the east end of the Coachella Valley into more of a year-round destination.

Hotel Indigo, the trendy brand of InterContinentals Hotel Group, will operate the 250 guest rooms. Completion of the $45 million project is slated for the fall.

The resort is close to the Empire Polo Club, where Coachella and the Stagecoach Festival are held, but will have its own 11-acre, grassy  “playground” to host music events, wellness retreats and corporate or other private events, said Steve Bram of George Smith Partners, who arranged construction financing.

The development would feature units anywhere from two to six bedrooms each, along with restaurants, a spa, and a gym with a yoga studio. At the center of the complex, there will be a 10,000-square-foot saltwater pool complete with a DJ stage, catwalk and cocktail lounge.

The hotel will provide a new upscale housing option for the more than 100,000 people that the festival draws during each of its two weekends in April, potentially helping to ease prices.

Many of the festival attendees and tourists visiting the desert city choose to stay in Airbnbs and rental properties that command top-dollar rates during the peak season.

Homeowners of large estates have been profiting from the festival’s increased popularity, pocketing as much as $100,000 for a single weekend, The Real Deal previously reported. [LAT] — Natalie Hoberman

The arrival of such an upscale resort where guests can come for business retreats or unwind for several days “has been a long time coming” to Coachella, said Gabriel Martin, the city’s economic development manager.

It will also be the only major hotel actually in Coachella — other nearby inns such as the Indian Palms Country Club & Resort are in Indio.

The hotel will provide new revenue and employment for the working-class city of 48,000, Martin said. Coachella supported the project financially by agreeing to a 50-50 split in the hotel’s bed taxes with the owners for 20 years or as much as $25 million, whichever occurs first.

The city is also allowing the resort to hold events until 4 a.m. after requiring the developers to build a 12-foot-high wall to shield its concert space from neighbors, Bram said.

Martin hopes more resorts will join the Indigo in Coachella.

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