Agua Caliente to build "new mixed-use entertainment and gaming district" in downtown Cathedral City

A master plan for the development will include a gaming facility, the tribe's first off the existing reservation, which was permitted under the compact the Agua Caliente negotiated with California in 2016.

"This is about making a large-scale investment in Cathedral City," Chairman Jeff Grubbe said in a statement. "The future development will create jobs, revitalize an undeveloped downtown property and support Cathedral City's economic development efforts."

The parcel slated for development is bounded by Monty Hall Drive to the west, Buddy Rogers Avenue to the north, Date Palm Drive to the east and East Palm Canyon Drive to the south.

A group of commercial buildings near the corner of Monty Hall and East Palm Canyon, including new eatery Justin's and the former home of longtime restaurant El Gallito, are not part of the land deal.

The property to the east of Date Palm Drive is already part of the Agua Caliente reservation.

Cathedral City and the tribe had been in talks for about 18 months before Tuesday's announcement, mayor Stan Henry said.

“We have a natural relationship. They wanted to do more development in Cathedral City and we had the land,” he said.

The Agua Caliente already operate two large casinos in Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs. Under the gaming compact that Gov. Jerry Brown signed in October, the tribe can open up to four additional facilities, limited to 500 machines each.

The agreement also allowed the tribe to open casinos on land that lies between the squares of the tribe's checkerboard-shaped reservation.

Tribes in California can acquire land to build casinos, as long as the sale of land is approved by the Department of the Interior and the governor, according to Stand Up California, an advocacy group that pushes for enforcement of gambling laws.

Both the state and federal government must feel that the public has had an opportunity to comment on the project before they approve it, according to Stand Up California. While California has generally supported tribes pursuing off-reservation gaming facilities over the last decade, voters blocked two controversial casino projects in northern California in local elections in 2014.

In August, as the state and tribe were finalizing their gaming compact, the governor's office said that for the Agua Caliente and their checkerboard-shaped reservation, off-reservation gambling "creates a framework within which the tribe (that) can make significant investments that will generate jobs and stimulate additional economic growth in each of those communities."

The land the tribe will acquire in Cathedral City currently belongs to the City Urban Revitalization Corporation, a private nonprofit that owns most of the property once held by the city's redevelopment agency. CURC acts as a "master developer" for the city's downtown region, with all its sales approved by City Council.

The tribe will pay CURC $5.5 million, according to a press release.

CURC will transfer the 12.5-acre parcel of land to the tribe and use the funds to replace the decades-old fire station on Date Palm Drive with a new station in a new location.

Henry believes the mixed-use development will contribute to the arts community the city was working to cultivate in the long-vacant downtown strip, bolstered by recent renovations to the Mary Pickford Theatre, plans to develop a new park and amphitheater on Cathedral Canyon Drive and the relocation of the Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre to the Desert Cinema.

“It will definitely help our economy and help tourism,” he said. “We’ve always wanted downtown to mean entertainment district.”
The mayor said a tax-sharing agreement is still in the works, but could look similar to agreements the tribe has with neighboring Palm Springs. He added that the tribe had long partnered with the city to provide public safety funding, including helping fund computer programs for the police department and the department’s homeless liaison officer program.

Henry said the city was still pursuing other development projects in the downtown corridor, including a 5.5 acre mixed-use project formally announced during his state of the city speech last month, and looking for a buyer for another 12 acre parcel owned by CURC that has already been entitled for a hotel.

A 312-room luxury hotel was proposed by Saxony Group for that lot, across the street from the tribe's project, south of East Palm Canyon Drive, in 2016.*

"While the Saxony Group met all the deadlines in the agreement through last fall, when they received entitlements from the planning commission, they missed subsequent deadlines to have building plans completed by the end of the year so the agreement is no longer active," city manager Charlie McClendon wrote in an email.

*A previous version of this article inaccurately stated the entitlements for the proposed Saxony Group hotel project were transferred to Green Spring Capital. The asterisk indicated the sentence that has been changed.