“Cotino is Storyliving by Disney’s first community,” says Anthony Henry, general manager for the nascent planned community. “It’s inspired by the love that Walt and Lillian, his wife, had for the desert. When you think about master-planned communities … it means different things to people. But, when you think about it in the manner that Disney can do it and Disney can offer, you’re talking about attention to detail. You’re talking about incredible placemaking by the [Disney] Imagineers. You’re also talking about that legendary service that many people know from visiting the parks or embarking on a cruise adventure. There’s many ways to create magic [and] we are using that same philosophy in our communities.”
Cotino is one of the most ambitious developments in the desert in memory. It lies between Gerald Ford and Frank Sinatra Drive with Bob Hope Drive to the west and Monterey Avenue marking its eastern border. At 618 acres with a projected build-out of 1,932 homes, it is nearly twice the 308 acres and 1,150 homes that constitute Miralon in the north end of Palm Springs. A private country club-style facility called the Artisan Club was inspired by the Disney/Pixar movie “Incredibles 2.” (Membership in the club is not included with home ownership.) The real centerpiece and mind exploder in this wildly ambitious project is a 24-acre turquoise blue lagoon called Cotino Bay. (I was sort of hoping for Mermaids’ Lagoon and Marooners’ Rock from Neverland in “Peter Pan.”) The bay will feature beaches and activities like kayaking and pickleball. Eventually, Cotino Bay will have a town center with artisans’ shops, upscale shopping, and dining. There are also plans for a 400-room hotel on the property … a luxurious respite when the kids or the kids’ kids start wearing out their welcome. The beach will be open to the public for an entrance fee. Artisan Club memberships will also be available for purchase by non-residents.
Mercifully, Storytelling by Disney has not laid it on too thick. (There is no Fantasy Land or Adventureland or Johnny Depp lookalikes sailing the Black Pearl through a fireworks-lit Cotino Bay on Saturday nights.) But, there are a lot of references to “storytelling” from the standpoint of both the Disney Imagineers and the residents who buy into the community. “We love to say around here, ‘We want you to write the next chapter of your life,’” Henry says. “That is our mantra. That's what we live by. We have a unique ability to use our IP to create these incredible experiences. And you'll see that here in the community, not just at the Artisan Club, but also with the Parr House (a multi-use facility named after the family’s house in ‘Incredibles 2’), that's going to be an amenity for the club members to enjoy so they can have their celebrations or rent it out for retreats. I think storytelling comes into play when you look at the ability of us to welcome guests and residents into the community to create whatever life they [can] have through the offerings that we have at Cotino.”
Henry is a Newark, New Jersey, native; he came west more than a decade and a half ago and worked his way up in the food and hospitality industries. He put in time at TK at LAX and Nordstrom before he was hired by the owners of The Grove, a unique, upscale shopping center in Los Angeles. There, he worked his way up from concierge services to director of hospitality. Another opportunity took him back East to Maryland, where he managed a commercial and residential development. That experience set him up perfectly for his move to Disney. Henry was a musician in his youth, so he sees his role at Cotino as something like a conductor – maybe the effort is on the brass section today, maybe it’s on the strings tomorrow. But, all in all, he wants all the sounds to combine harmoniously. “I guide the magic behind a vibrant new home community that seamlessly blends residential club and commercial spaces to create an exceptional experience for guests,” Henry says. “And if I can do that every single day, I think that I'm really succeeding not only as a leader or as a peer but also as a steward to the community.”
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The residential part of the community will be built by three well-known, prestigious builders: Shea Homes, Woodbridge Pacific Group, and Davidson Communities. The first three models were unveiled to the press and prospective buyers last month. Shea Homes built all three models, starting with the Melodia. The three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bedroom, single-story home features an inviting front courtyard entrance; it leads to an expansive, open-plan house that feels far, far bigger than the square footage would suggest. An interior design by TRIO “blends sophistication with whimsey,” according to Disney literature on the property, and was inspired by the movie “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
The side/backyard area is compact but spacious enough for outdoor entertaining and contains a small pool with perfectly sculpted landscaping. We were told during a tour that the house – considered one of the entry-level homes – was expected to sell in the neighborhood of $1.7 to $1.8 million, sans pool and landscaping. Those additions mean the finished price could be around $2.2 million or higher, depending upon the prospective buyers’ wishes.
Interestingly enough, the second model home, the Moderne, is not as aggressively modern as the Melodia. The two-story home features two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and two half-bathrooms. There is a great room on the first floor; but overall, the home feels cozier and more traditional. A large balcony on the second floor effectively opens the upstairs sitting area to light and sunshine. Again, Disney literature stated that the warm tones and earthy interiors “drew inspiration from the Adventureland area at Disneyland … with accents that echo the rugged landscapes of exotic, adventurous locales.” Indeed, the home features more rugged, earthy components, such as stone and exposed timber, that give it a slightly masculine tone – like a new home you might find outside of Bozeman, Montana. The Moderne is designed exclusively for the age 55-plus residential area of Cotino called Longtable Park. It surrounds a soon-to-be-built park that will prominently feature a long table, presumably to encourage locals to put down the remote, get out, and socialize.
Disappointingly, the third model home on display, also by Shea, did not have an overt connection to the lexicon of Disney stories. Nevertheless, Disney literature said the home drew inspiration from 1960s Disney poster artwork, as well as the work of a local artist named Shag. It is called the Atelier II. One of the home’s more impressive features is a large front courtyard; indeed, there are definite nods to mid-century modern design here and there in the interior and exterior. The one-story, open floor plan features two bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. It could be thought of as a quaint, modern, mid-century-inspired cottage … if the idea of paying well over a million dollars for a cottage doesn’t seem slightly incongruous. But, it’s Disney, so anything is possible.
