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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Hotel & Signature Events Committee 04/03/2019CITY OF PALM DESERT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM To: Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk From: Robin McCormick, Economic Development Tech nician_"V`� Date: March 2, 2020 Subject. Submission of Minutes for the Hotel & Signature Events Committee Attached for your records are the approved minutes of the Hotel & Signature Events Committee Meeting of April 3, 2019. Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information. Thank you. Attachments (as noted) G \Eton DeveiopmertNotei Committee\RK Memo - Minutes do, _r3 PALM DESERT PALM DESERT HOTEL AND SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, April 3, 2019 — 4:00 p.m. Administrative Conference Room — Palm Desert Civic Center 73510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chairman White called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Councilmember Jan Harnik Arnold Kirschenbaum Jim Moran Mayor Pro Tern Gina Nestande Tom Tabler Scott White Staff /Others Present: Lauri Aylaian, City Manager Martin Alvarez, Director of Economic Development Ryan Stendell, Director of Community Development David Hermann, Senior Management Analyst Vanessa Mager, Management Analyst Robin McCormick, Recording Secretary III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF OCTOBER 2. 2018 Councilmember Harnik moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the April 4, 2018, meeting. Motion was seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Nestande and carried by a 5-0-1 vote. (AYES: Harnik, Moran, Nestande, Tabler, and White. NOES: None. ABSENT: Kirschenbaum) MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING April 3, 2019 V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE CHAIRNICE CHAIR. Member White moved, by Minute Motion, to elect Tom Tabler as Chair and Jim Moran as Vice Chair. Motion was seconded by Councilmember Harnik and carried by a 5-0-1 vote. (AYES: Harnik, Moran, Nestande, Tabler, and White. NOES: None. ABSENT: Kirschenbaum). VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None Vill. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS A. City Council Councilmember Harnik shared that Fashion Week was amazing. Ticket sales were up 20 percent, Food & Wine ticket sales were up about 40 percent. Five chefs have been invited to the James Beard House in New York City to present a dinner. Member Tabler asked about the location for Fashion Week and Food & Wine next year and Mr. Soule answered that the events will remain at The Gardens on El Paseo, although Palm Springs Life is considering some options to increase the seating area in its current location. Increased ticket sales for the James Beard luncheon and Sunday's tasting added to the increase in attendance. Other potential locations within the City for Palm Desert Food & Wine were discussed. The Rosewood site would not be a good option due to the substantial slope on the vacant property. Mayor Pro Tem Nestande stated that there was a meeting the day before with Ideapeddler that was very informative and asked Mr. Soule to elaborate. Mr. Soule explained that Ideapeddler has done some market research for the City of Palm Desert. There were focus groups from San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles areas to assess ways to market the City and discover what people think about it. The information gleaned from the research was very revealing and will be helpful in marketing Palm Desert The research will be packaged and shared with everyone in the near future. 4 MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING April 3, 2019 Ms. Aylaian added that our Public Art program has an event going on that is complimentary to the Desert X project. An artist names OLEK is doing a project called Love Across the USA which engages the community and she has chosen Palm Desert to display the crocheted mural that has been worked on by community members for the past two months. It will be hung tomorrow outside of the Civic Center Building at City Hall and stay there for a month or two. There will be a dedication ceremony for it this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Councilmember Harnik reported that Desert Willow had its best March ever for golf. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Member White shared that last year the CVB went to Atlanta and built a relationship with Delta Airlines. They added service to Palm Springs during the winter months. The response was very favorable. Delta will be adding 5 — 7 days per week during the same period. United Airlines will be next to talk with in May. The CVB is always working with airlines to offer more flights in and out of Palm Springs. The Certified Ambassador program is up and running. There have been three or four classes so far and looking at expanding it into the summer. Mr. White will try to get something scheduled for June/July for staff at City Hall. Another research study that CVB is going to do is called Destination Next. Questions will be sent out to each City to look over. All are destination questions about the strength of the brand of the destination and other components. B. Committee Members Member White asked if the City is out looking for more signature events. Ms. Mager replied that there is a new event that will take place the weekend before Thanksgiving. It is the USA Women's Marathon and half Marathon. There are expecting 5,000 to 8,000 runners. Member White would like to make sure that the CVB gets it on their website. Approximately 2,000 are currently registered. There are more events in the works. Ms. Mager added that the Concerts in the Park are ramping up and starting in May. October concerts are being worked on as well. C. Staff None. 3 MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT HOTEL & SIGNATURE EVENTS COMMITTEE MEETING April 3, 2019 XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa Updates — Tom Tabler Member Tabler shared that the owners of JW have hired the company that designed Atlantis. The company is looking at the site and will come back with recommendations on where the water feature would work best. Another eliminate that Member Tabler shared the hotel is booking out a year or two in advance and more meeting space has become an issue with legacy groups. By 2022, there will be more meeting/conference space will be added by replacing the Pavilion and Springs pool. B. Desert Willow Hotel Project Update — Martin Alvarez Mr. Alvarez updated the committee on the progress of a resort project that has been in the works for the last couple of years at Desert Willow. Desert Surf has submitted entitlement drawings to the planning department on Lot Pad B. Mr. Alvarez showed the committee the design concept of what the development will look like. A surf lagoon, two hotels. villas, restaurant, and desert surf center are included. On April 9, the Architectural Review Committee will get a look at the proposed project. The project would break ground in approximately two years. City Council has given staff direction to look at the remaining land the Desert Willow has. At the corner of Country Club and Desert Willow Drive, the City owns 11 acres next to the Ralph's center. The goal for this piece is to provide for future resort entertainment type facility that has a variety of shops, restaurants and entertainment. A "Shoppertainment" experience all in one spot. There have been discussions with some developers. The other two pads are 15 and 17 acres and the idea is to add resort development such as timeshare, hotel or combination, the City is open to opportunities to expand in that arena. These Lot Pads are known as C & D and they are still in the thought process. There is a Par 3 that separates them and may need to be moved to make utilization more feasible. XII. NEXT REGULAR MEETING DATE —June 5, 2019 @ 4:00 p.m. XIII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 4:51 p.m. 4—bin)iMcCormick, Recording Secretary 4