Future Of 119 Acres: Palm Springs Wants Property Returned From COD

PALM SPRINGS, CA — The city of Palm Springs is proposing to buy 119 acres from the College of the Desert — land it gave the Palm Desert-based college in 2010 for the purpose of building another campus.

A July 27 offer letter from Palm Springs City Attorney Jeffrey Ballinger to COD legal counsel Andreas Chialtas alleges there is public concern about the property at the northwest corner of Tramview Road and Indian Canyon Drive and a deal should be made.

Known as the North End Site, the 119.4-acre property was supposed to be developed by the college into the COD West Valley Campus but plans have changed.

The city originally purchased the North End Site in 2007 from the federal government for $2.1 million, and in 2010 transferred the property to COD at no cost to the college, according to the city attorney's letter. As part of the deal, COD had to construct the campus and enroll at least 10,000 full-time students, according to the letter.

That hasn't happened. Instead, the college abandoned its plans for the property and sought to sell it "to the highest bidder, a residential developer," with no consultation or agreement from the city, according to Ballinger's letter.

A deed restriction on the property requires the college use the land only for the development of a West Valley Campus, the letter states.

In April, COD officials went in front of the Palm Springs City Council to provide an update to the community about the proposed campus. Residents learned that COD wants to sell the North End Site. The college has instead purchased a property on Tahquitz Canyon Way (the old mall site) for $22 million for the purpose of developing a West Valley Campus (renamed the Palm Springs Development Project). But promises of a robust educational facility at the new location appear downsized, despite public funding for the project, according to Ballinger's letter.

Now the city wants the North End Site property back and is offering to buy it from the college for $5.7 million, the same figure that a developer has proposed to pay, the city attorney said.

"One could argue that it ought to be returned outright as the City would not have bought this property simply to facilitate market-rate residential development. The offer to pay not once, but twice, for the property reflects the importance of this property in advancing social equity in North Palm Springs," Ballinger wrote.

"It seems reasonable that if COD no longer intended to honor the vision to invest directly in North Palm Springs that the property would be returned to the City and its taxpayers," the city attorney continued.

The proposed campus is to be paid for by the voter-approved $346.5-million bond Measure B from 2004, as well as the 2016 voter-approved $577-million bond Measure CC, according to Ballinger's letter. The campus is intended to provide higher educational opportunities in Coachella Valley's west end and in North Palm Springs.

If the North End Site property were returned, the city could invest in affordable housing, commercial developments like a grocery store, community facilities that provide job training and childcare, and "a host of other programs that would directly benefit area residents," according to the letter.

If the college goes for the deal, the city would require that COD develop the Tahquitz Canyon Way campus to a scale and scope previously committed to for the North End Site — an investment of approximately $345 million in 2021 dollars, according to the city.

As part of the city's purchase agreement requirements, the Taqhitz Canyon Way site would also need to be completed and open for students on or about December 2025.

COD Public Information Officer Nicholas Robles confirmed Wednesday that the college received the city's offer letter.

"The next opportunity for the Board of Trustees to review this offer would be at the Board Meeting on Friday, August 19," Robles said. "College of the Desert maintains its commitment to building the Palm Springs Development Project."