Plans for redeveloping the Desert Inn fell, which prompted the Alexander Construction Company to focus more of using the property for commercial use instead. 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. However, the plans never came to fruition due to Davies's health deteriorating at the time.ĭavies eventually sold the land for $2.5 million to developers Samuel Firks and George Alexander in 1960. The proposed center was scheduled for completion by November 1957. 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 hotel itself would accommodate 200 rooms and suites, along with a parking space for 1,000 cars. 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. īy April 1956, there were plans for a $4.5 million, five story hotel and shopping center on the site. 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.
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. 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. 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.įormer anchor tenants in the mall were Saks Fifth Avenue, I. In 2002, John Wessman of Wessman Development bought the property and proposed a significant redevelopment on the whole site. Subsequently, sales declined prompting major retailers to close down business at the Desert Fashion Plaza. In the early 1980s, Desert Plaza Partnership sold the property to DeBartolo Corporation which expanded and revamped the mall to accommodate more shops. The mall was originally developed by Home Savings and Loan Association, which sold the shopping center to Desert Plaza Partnership. Magnin)ĭesert Fashion Plaza, formerly known as Desert Inn Fashion Plaza, was an enclosed shopping mall located in Palm Springs, California.
Aerial view of the mall during demolition in 2013.ġ23 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262ġ (2 in Saks Fifth Avenue 3 in I.