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Planning commission recommends 3-year-extension for Palm Springs Virgin Hotel project

Published January 10, 2019 1:32 AM

The Palm Springs Planning Commission has voted 5-2 in favor of an extension for the Virgin Hotel project in downtown Palm Springs.

Last week, Michael Braun of Grit Development told News Channel 3’s Brooke Beare that a delay would be requested due to lawsuits relating to the prevailing wage.

The extension will be 3 years in length.

The vote came after an hour-long discussion containing sometimes heated exchanges at Wednesday’s Palm Springs Planning Commission meeting.

Braun explaining during the hearing that financial issues arose due to the above-mentioned prevailing wage lawsuit. Braun supported his rationale with a precedent set by the construction of the Kimpton Rowan hotel; he mentioned that Rowan project was also delayed three years due to several lawsuits.

Rolled into the extension decision is an agreement for Grit Development to clean up the construction sites by March 31, 2019, citing complaints from the public that it is an eyesore.

The Virgin Hotel project was approved by the City Council by a 3-2 vote in 2017. The 6-story, 143-room hotel was originally slated for a 2022 opening,

“Right now I have a management contract with Virgin that is for 40 years,” Braun said last week. “So they have committed to Palm Springs. If I don’t get the development extension…and my entitlements from that, then Virgin could go somewhere else.”