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Celebrating 25 Years of Progress

By Erin Gilhuly

Seen Right: Old Town La Quinta, located in the heart of the La Quinta Village, recently opened new buildings along its quaint Main Street setting. Fresh florals, home goods, a coffee shop and new boutiques are just some of the things you can find in this expanded shopping and dining destination.
Photo by Tom Brewster

Celebrating 25 prosperous years, the City of La Quinta continues to be the Coachella Valley’s finest place to live, work, and play. A combination of majestic beauty, unmatched opportunity, and superior quality of life, the “Gem of the Desert” has become the cornerstone of exceptional life in the desert. Residents, business owners, and tourists have always had a reason to sing its praises. And, as the City of La Quinta enters its next 25 years, its future looks even brighter.

The City of La Quinta will surely shine in January when it welcomes the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic to the Arnold Palmer Classic Course at SilverRock Resort, which is owned by the city. A highlight in the desert community for decades, the five-day, world-renowned golf tournament is played each January over four desert courses and features an unmatched list of celebrities, PGA Tour professionals, and amateurs. Three of the four golf courses in the 2008 rotation are in La Quinta, including the Arnold Palmer Classic Course at SilverRock, La Quinta Country Club, and the Arnold Palmer Private Course at PGA West. The City of La Quinta is thrilled to be a part of the tournament’s legacy.

Boasting excellent playing conditions, an extraordinary reputation, and a list of national accolades, the Arnold Palmer Classic Course at SilverRock is looking forward to expanding its on-site services. With construction scheduled to begin in late 2008, the permanent clubhouse for SilverRock Resort is a top priority for the city. The Redevelopment Agency hired Altevers Associates to design the building, and preliminary programming is already underway. Meanwhile, a second public golf course is in the initial design phase.

The good news for SilverRock Resort and the residents of La Quinta doesn’t end there. Earlier this year, city leaders approved an agreement with Lowe Enterprises. This affiliation seals a deal, which will provide a host of extensive hospitality amenities on the 525-acre site. “La Solana at SilverRock,” a 200-unit luxury boutique hotel, will include a resort spa, three swimming pools, outdoor living spaces, spectacular garden areas, and contemporary Mexican architecture. The groundbreaking is planned for spring 2008, and completion is anticipated in late 2009 to mid-2010. Other future amenities include a 410-room resort hotel with conference space, spa/fitness facilities, restaurant/lounge, and pools, along with affiliated casitas nearby. A retail village will house unique shops and fine dining options, as well as a multi-purpose black box theater.

Swiftly emerging as the center of the Coachella Valley’s commercial and residential landscapes, the City of La Quinta is truly a city with advantage. Residents come to enjoy the tranquility of lush desert surroundings and a protected environment. Meanwhile, business owners arrive daily in search of new opportunities. Behind it all exists a thriving tourist base, proving how a healthy utopia can grow from its roots while nurturing its most treasured natural resources.

After a year of steady growth in retail and hospitality in 2007, the upcoming year should be just as successful. In the first half of 2007 alone, the city saw nearly 600 new business licenses. City leaders credit La Quinta’s attractive available land, strong infrastructure, and business-friendly attitude from City Hall. National retailers and small business owners alike are calling La Quinta the ultimate place to do business.

By next fall, JC Penney will call La Quinta home, with its second valley store being planned in the Centre at La Quinta on Highway 111. And construction is already underway just down the road in the Washington Park Center for Cost Plus World Market, a housewares retailer with nearly 300 stores nationwide.

In the La Quinta Village, you have even more to browse as Old Town La Quinta opened Phase II of its shopping and dining destination. Old Town has 50,000 square feet of additional space, where shoppers can now find fresh florals, more unique boutiques, and gifts. A coffee shop and a new ice cream shop round out Old Town’s expansion. At the heart of La Quinta’s Village, the Plaza at Calle Tampico is extremely desirable, with room for 12 potential tenants and a multitude of business opportunities; a British specialty grocer, Fresh & Easy, is expected to open here in 2008.

At the center of its travel and tourism future, La Quinta welcomes its third major hotel, Homewood Suites, at the corner of Miles Avenue and Washington Street known as Centre Pointe. The highly anticipated 130-suite Hilton-brand hotel opened for business in August and is expected to be responsible for nearly half a million dollars in bed tax revenue for the city. The City of La Quinta collects a healthy $6 million annually in hotel bed tax for its General Fund from the already successful Embassy Suites, Lake La Quinta Inn and the historic La Quinta Resort & Club.

Expansion in desert dining also takes center stage at Centre Pointe with Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grille opening in early 2008. Other favorites coming to La Quinta include Souplantation, Sweet Tomatoes, Panera Bread Company, and Mimi’s Café — slated to open in 2008.

The City of La Quinta continues to distinguish itself with a collection of outstanding community activities and services. Understanding the value of providing people with a rich roster of things to do, La Quinta makes it a priority to find exciting, entertaining, and worthwhile choices for residents and visitors. The Civic Center Campus played host to a series of Movies in the Park this year, a free opportunity for families to enjoy quality entertainment. Cultural affluence is certainly unmatched in La Quinta, with events like the nationally acclaimed La Quinta Arts Festival and live theater offered by the La Quinta Playhouse.

This was especially true as the city celebrated its 25th anniversary. Residents and visitors came out in droves to a variety of events, all providing a chance for people to explore the city’s impressive history. Activities included historical tours of area sites, a catfish derby, band performances, and a fireworks show, to name a few.

Marking an enhanced commitment to promoting the city’s history, the La Quinta Historical Museum is adding almost 8,000 square feet to its location. The new building will have two exhibit halls, an archive room, a classroom, a meeting room, and a museum store. Construction is underway, and completion is expected by March 2008.

In response to La Quinta’s booming population, city services are growing across the board. City Hall will nearly double in size by the end of the year with an addition of 23,000 square feet. Of that, approximately 5,000 square feet will be devoted to the new Emergency Operations Center, which will house communications services and disaster facilities, important components in the city’s commitment to emergency preparedness.

Additionally, the La Quinta Public Library will be growing by another 9,000 square feet. Plans include an expanded children’s and youth area, as well as more room for best sellers, audio-visual collections, and periodicals. The entire library collection will include 30,000 pieces. Completion is expected by spring 2008.

The city’s public safety services were enhanced in 2007 with the implementation of the CodeRed program. CodeRed is a high-speed telephone emergency notification system capable of delivering prerecorded emergency telephone messages to targeted areas at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour. In addition to this ground-breaking program, the city has contracted for an additional 10 hours per day of patrol time from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and has added a third school resource officer, who will be assigned to Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School. The city has also added a community services officer, a nonsworn position that will handle minor law enforcement situations, thereby freeing up patrol officers to handle more serious incidents.

As part of the city’s commitment to provide affordable housing, a new affordable housing option comes to the city next year with Vista Dunes Courtyard Homes, an 80-unit complex slated for completion in spring 2008. Located near the corner of Miles Avenue and Adams Street, Vista Dunes incorporates principles of environmentally friendly design, energy and water efficiency, durability, and sustainability and is on track to achieve LEED “gold” certification, a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. Vista Dunes will be the first multi-family affordable housing project in the country to achieve this level of LEED certification.

You can find details on just about anything the city has to offer its residents, business owners, and visitors by going online to www.la-quinta.org. Yet another of the city’s enhancements this year is the newly designed Web site, which has been extensively upgraded. Readers can enjoy a wealth of information on the city’s Web site — from applying for a job, reporting traffic issues, reviewing City Council agendas, booking a tee time at the Arnold Palmer Classic Course at SilverRock Resort, and getting a business license application, to finding out where this week’s garage sales are located. Streaming video, downloadable forms, a calendar of events, and user-friendly QuailMail are just a few of the features that round out the exciting new Web site.

Community spirit, smart growth, and quality leadership are at the heart of La Quinta’s 25 years of progress. And its residents are at the heart of its future. Discover more about the Coachella Valley’s finest gem at www.la-quinta.org.

Mayor Donald Adolph Mayor Pro Tem Stanley Sniff	Council Members Terry Henderson Tom Kirk Lee Osborne	Year Incorporated 1982 Population 41,092	Median Household Income $67,754
		Peering out over the La Quinta Cove, a hiker takes in the incredible growth that has been particularly prevalent in the past ten years. Photo by Mark Stephenson
		Business continues to boom along the bustling Highway 111 corridor in La Quinta, with a variety of all time favorites and a unique blend of exciting new shopping and dining experiences. Photo by Mark Stephenson
		Vista Dunes Courtyard Homes isn’t your average affordable housing project. The state-of-the-art units are designed to include some of the most advanced water and energy efficiencies in home building today. Photo by Kyle Martin