Disney breaks ground on Cotino in Rancho Mirage, first Storyliving housing community in US
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KABC) -- The Walt Disney Co. broke ground Tuesday on a new project in Southern California.
It's not a theme park and it's not in Anaheim -- it's a new housing community in the desert.
More than 600 acres of open land in the Coachella Valley are about to be transformed into Cotino, the first Storyliving by Disney community in the U.S.
"The story is really about the residents of the community," said Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney Signature Experiences. "This is what makes this so very, very different. Because it isn't just about our program - which will be spectacular - but it is really where our residents and the community can write and live their own story."
The development will offer single-family homes and condominiums, plus a hotel, shopping, dining and entertainment - even a beach in the middle of the desert.
"This is a full community," said Michael Hundgen, a Walt Disney Imagineering executive producer. "And what we're hoping is that folks here can treat this like their creative oasis."
Disney launches new neighborhood community, Storyliving
It's no coincidence that Disney Imagineers picked Rancho Mirage for the first Storyliving location.
"I think it was deeply meaningful for the Disney team to make this first of this new series of communities here, in a place that meant so much" to Walt and Lillian Disney, said Brent Herrington, CEO of DMB Development.
"We're very lucky that Walt has roots here, to the Coachella Valley," said Hundgen. "He used to come and he brought his Imagineers, his animators, and they would come to be inspired, they would come to use it as a creative outlet. And so we're bringing forward that same legacy as we think about what we hope for the residents here."
There has been no word yet on the prices of the homes. They are set to go on sale in early 2023 and the first residents are expected to move in in 2024.
The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of this station.
