Disney brings its glitzy touch to Cotino, a new Coachella Valley development
Words by RONALD AHRENS
With pipes, cables, and curbs in place after more than two years’ work, the order book is now open at Cotino: A Storyliving by Disney community in Rancho Mirage. This themed development on the last choice undeveloped tract in the middle of the Coachella Valley is entering the building phase. Some 1,900 premium homes are on tap at prices starting near $2 million and topping out around $5 million. Monthly homeowners’ association dues start at $600. First move-ins are expected later this month.
Departing from greater Palm Springs standards, Cotino’s centerpiece is not a golf course, but rather Cotino Bay: a 12-foot-deep, 24-acre manmade lake that shimmers like a turquoise bib necklace in the middle of the one-square-mile tract. Although it’s still a churned-up construction site, the lakeside will ultimately be crusted with smooth, sandy beaches where people can stretch out after their splash sessions. During a recent media tour, Disney representatives said the lake uses 20 percent of the water required to sustain an 18-hole layout.
“Especially for Disney, sustainability is a huge emphasis,” says Brent Herrington, president and chief executive of DMB Development LLC, of Scottsdale, Arizona, the master Cotino developer. Herrington previously served as town manager at Celebration, Disney’s 5,000-acre planned community in Florida. Cotino’s planners took the attitude of “Let’s develop the public space first,” he says, explaining that a related objective is visual splendor. “Every home at Cotino has to offer a gift to the street.”
Herrington promised a walkable community within the site. One area — Longtable Park Residences in the 55-plus section of Cotino — has a park with a long picnic table that extends the tradition of Walt Disney’s own gatherings years ago at his Smoke Tree Ranch home just a few miles away in Palm Springs.
Claire Bilby, Disney’s senior vice president for emerging businesses, said Cotino satisfies the growing appetite for branded residential communities. She cited attention to detail, superior service, and engaging programming as markers of excellence. “We combined all of those aspects,” she says.
Builders involved in the project are Shea Homes, Davidson Communities, and Woodbridge Pacific Group. The offerings include four distinct styles:
- Coachella Collection takes inspiration from the valley’s natural beauty and indigenous traditions
- Agrarian Collection reflects the agricultural roots
- Oasis Collection reinterprets midcentury design
- Aspiron Collection embraces ultra-contemporary designs
A model-home tour revealed an emphatic emphasis on indoor-outdoor living, with indispensable elements such as sliding-glass doors that nestle inside wall pockets. Traditional living and dining rooms are dealt out of the deck in favor of great rooms and flexible spaces. Social kitchens accommodate vast islands with ample seating for nibbling, and what patio isn’t also equipped for a big cookout? The grand design encompasses lots of social drop-ins and move-the-party activity among residents.
Swimming in Cotino Bay is meant as the big draw. Inset into the lake are two structured pools in which the water will stay at 85 degrees. Kayaking and windsurfing are the first surface activities to be greenlighted for the larger area, and other modes of aquatic mobility are under consideration — one imagines pedal-boat activities, for example.
Now under construction, the Artisan Club, available through a supplemental membership, will provide a waterfront bar called Plot Twist, a casual restaurant called Architects Fork, and exclusive beach access. A different beach on the opposite side of Cotino will welcome nonmember residents and valley dwellers who may purchase day passes.
Currently a welter of steel beams, the Parr House is inspired by the film Incredibles 2 and will serve as a special events center. Starting a phased opening in 2026, the town center will include a collection of shops and a coterie of chef-driven restaurants.
“It’s almost like casting a dinner party,” Herrington says.
February 18, 2025
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