Saxony debuts plans for hotel in Cathedral City

Right now it’s just a big piece of fenced-in sand off Highway 111 and Date Palm Drive.

“Many of the councils in the past started the vision, they always wanted a hotel at that intersection,” said Mayor Stan Henry.

The Saxony Group, led by Canadian businessman Martin Dolemo, says it’s ready to make that happen with a state-of-the-art 300-room luxury hotel called Club Saxony.

“Very excited to be part of the revitalization of Cathedral City,” said Dolemo, who called the piece of land prime real estate in the center of the valley.

The 12 acres were once part of the city’s redevelopment agency, which dissolved in 2012. Since then plans for other developments, including at one time a seven-story Sheraton hotel, didn’t come to fruition.

“We have heard about projects that have come and gone but this seems like it will stick,” said Patrick Ackins, who lives near the planned development in the Cove.

“Now that we’ve got that released from the state we can move forward,” Henry said of the former RDA land.

The city hopes Club Saxony will attract foot traffic and other businesses to downtown Cathedral City.

“We envision this to be an entertainment area, we have the theater, we have the festival lawns, We want it to be a destination stop for our community and for tourists,” Henry said.

Saxony says the project will also create hundreds of jobs, fulfilling a vision the company always had in the valley. In 2013, the company planned to open a Fashion Outlet Mall in Rancho Mirage, promising to create 4,000 jobs. That land is now for sale.

“I think where I jumped the gun when I mentioned job creation before, it still is coming and in fact I think I’ll exceed the numbers I quoted before,” Dolemo said.