Desert Fashion Plaza, formerly known as Desert Inn Fashion Plaza, was an enclosed shopping mall located in Palm Springs, California. The mall was originally developed by Home Savings and Loan Association, which sold the shopping center to Desert Plaza Partnership. In the early 1980s, Desert Plaza Partnership sold the property to DeBartolo Corporation which expanded and revamped the mall to accommodate more shops. Subsequently, sales declined prompting major retailers to close down business at the Desert Fashion Plaza. In 2002, John Wessman of Wessman Development bought the property and proposed a significant redevelopment on the whole site. Demolition began to take place in 2013, and shops, restaurants, and a six-story hotel have opened on part of the site with more planned.
Former anchor tenants in the mall were Saks Fifth Avenue, I. Magnin, and Bank of America.
The mall was used as the set for the fictional S'wallow Valley Mall in the 2012 comedy film, Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie.
History
The site of the Desert Fashion Plaza was formerly a resort hotel named the Desert Inn opened and operated by Nellie Coffman, an early settler of Palm Springs. After Nellie's death in the 1950s, sons George Roberson and Earl Coffman, who had continuously assisted Nellie in the operation of the Inn, sold it in 1955 to actress Marion Davies.
By April 1956, there were plans for a $4.5 million, five story hotel and shopping center on the site. The project would have originally included a swimming pool, a Las Vegas-style restaurant, and a theater for both Broadway plays and cinema films during the winter and summer seasons, respectively. The hotel itself would accommodate 200 rooms and suites, along with a parking space for 1,000 cars. Victor Gruen and Associates were to be the architects to design the project, with Joseph Bliti of New York being contracted for the proposed construction. The proposed center was scheduled for completion by November 1957. However, the plans never came to fruition due to Davies's health deteriorating at the time.
Davies eventually sold the land for $2.5 million to developers Samuel Firks and George Alexander in 1960. Alexander and Firks originally envisioned an eight-story hotel that would accommodate 300 rooms and a 1,600 parking space facility for a proposed $4 million. Plans for redeveloping the Desert Inn fell, which prompted the Alexander Construction Company to focus more of using the property for commercial use instead.
On November 14, 1965, Alexander and his spouse Mildred, along with their son Robert and his wife Helene, were all killed when their plane impacted shortly after taking off from Palm Springs International Airport. The plane was expected to reach Hollywood-Lockheed Air Terminal, but the plane lost control while in flight and collided into the Chocolate Mountains region near Indio, California. All plans for redeveloping the old site were dropped.
Operation
After Alexander's death, Home Savings and Loan Association obtained the Desert Inn property in 1966. That same year, developer Joseph K. Eichenbaum released a statement on plans of constructing a multi-million dollar commercial center on the old site. Architect Charles Luckman was commissioned to design the new shopping mall. Demolition of the Desert Inn began in August 1966.
The Desert Inn Fashion Plaza was officially opened to the public on October 16, 1967, with the grand opening of a 20,000 square-foot I. Magnin, which represented the retailer's return to Palm Springs after its 1933–1942 presence with a resort shop at the El Mirador Hotel. A month before the mall opened, Luckman and Leonard R. Lockhart, first vice president of Home Savings and Loan Associates, were both honored by Southern California Edison for the all-electrical design.
In 1969, Joseph Magnin Co. broke ground on a 26,000 square foot department store in the mall. The new store would anchor at the corner of North Palm Canyon Drive and Andreas Road, and was set to open in September the same year. San Francisco-based architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, would design the store, along with contractors Diversified Builders, Inc.
In addition, 12 other major establishments also opened up in the new mall, including: Bank of America, Belmont Savings & Loan, P'iddlers Three Restaurant, Stuard's Sahara, Silverwoods, Islamania, Michael's, Robert Sands Hairstyling, Master's Candies, Village Card & Gift Shop and Orange Julius.
In 1978, Home Savings and Loan Associates sold the Desert Inn Fashion Plaza to Desert Plaza Partnership. The group compromised Arthur Gilbert, David Blum and Gerson Fox; three partners that were based in Los Angeles.