Wessman Development works to save Town & Country
In what some might call an about-face, Wessman Development has now decided to work with the city of Palm Springs when it comes to saving the Town and Country Center.
According to Michael Braun of Wessman Development, “Our consultants and urban planners always felt the need for a vehicular connection to Indian Canyon. The Kimpton Hotel and the fabulous Virgin brand are now helping attract national tenants elevating the Downtown Experience, making the need for the street connection not as critical,” said Braun.
Many of the new city leaders, and even one longtime councilwoman, Ginny Foat, have said that they wanted to preserve the Town and Country Center due to its historical significance to the city.
“More importantly ,Ginny Foat spearheaded the connection issue by making Andreas Road a two-way street mitigating the need for a street through the Town and Country, a building she and others always wanted to see preserved,” said Braun. “It also has become apparent that the majority of the current council is in favor of an adaptive reuse of the Town Country versus demolition,” he added.
Wessman Development has also been criticized by many residents who have been very vocal about saving the center across from the Downtown Revitalization Project.
“In the spirit of working with the community and the council, we are now exploring options with the goal to preserve most of the architecturally significant buildings. Our focus remains on the opening of the Kimpton Hotel and Block C this year and starting the construction of the proposed Virgin Hotel after to create the dynamic energy for downtown we and the community always envisioned,” Braun concluded.
The store Destination PSP opened in the Town and Country Center about 15 months ago. According to the owners, they were told by John Wessman that they might have to move across the street into the Downtown Project if the Town and Country Center was going to be torn down.
“We’re thrilled that about what we hear about preserving the Town and Country Center, we have enjoyed being here we are very much in sync with what we do as a business and we hope to be here a long time,” said Jeffrey Bernstein, co-owner of Destination PSP.
1ne 6ixty 6ix Bar & Grill opened up next to the Town and Country Center just about 6 months ago.
“It just saddened me that there was a chance it could have been torn down because there is a lot of business owners here that worked hard everyday, so I am just happy that they are deciding to revitalize everything about this side of Palm Springs because this is the heart of Palm Springs,” said Alex Ferrini, co-owner of 1ne 6ixty 6ix.
City leaders are still working to approve several new changes to the proposed downtown project including voting for and allowing the Virgin Hotel project to be part of the city’s vision.
