Land and Ranches..now’s the time to List!
It just may be the BEST time to list your vacant land, farm or ranch in the Coachella Valley. Thermal, Coachella, Indio, Vista Santa Rosa..the entire East Valley is SELLING! Now, don’t get too excited..the price/acre is nowhere near where it was during the “boom”, but we haven’t seen much land move at all for the past 3 years. But things are starting to pop in our Eastern Palm Springs Valley.
The past 6 months have seen as many parcels SOLD! From small parcels, with and without wells, commercially zoned land way out next to the Kohl Ranch Project, and medium sized farms..there are buyers hovering around. Equestrian zoning is often requested, wells are fantastic, some improvements such as fencing, irrigation and perhaps barns are really increase the price/acre.
Vista Santa Rosa and Thermal land price/acre is settling at approx. $22-30,000/acre. I know that’s still a little depressing for you land owners if you were still remembering the $150-$250,000/acre that land was bringing when the developers were building and building out here! But..at least we know what it’s worth, right? Kind of similar to the low end housing market that had to keep dropping until it hit that “sweet spot” that Buyers were waiting for. Then the decrease stopped..and in fact it’s increased! I suspect our Land is doing just that now
Thinking of listing your land, ranch or equestrian property? Don’t wait too long..season is here!
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Anyone in the market for a horse property? Not just any horse property . . . the late celebrity Merv Griffin’s equestrian estate in La Quinta was put on the market this week for $9.5 million. This property joins other local celebrity homes that are also on the market – actor Cary Grant’s home is going for $3 million and Suzanne Somers’ home is going for $17.5 million, both located in Palm Springs.
Griffin’s 39 acre estate is likely the only equestrian property in the Palm Springs Valley that has a racetrack. The 5,000 sf Moroccan-style home also includes a 16 horse stable with staff quarters at each end, 14 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, 4 one bedroom guest casitas, 2 3-bedroom guest houses, 2.5 acre lagoon and much more.
This equestrian -specific estate was built by Griffin in the early 1980s, as he was an avid horse lover and rancher. He wanted to have a place to breed Arabian horses and someplace he could relax with family and friends. Horses were his passion and so was living a lavish lifestyle.
Merv Griffin was born in San Mateo in 1925. He started out his career as a singer and then went on to host a game show, then moved on to eventually host his own show called “The Merv Griffin Show.” Griffin also played a part in creating and producing the games shows ‘The Price is Right,’ ‘ Jeopardy,’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ which are still popular today.
Next, Griffin got into real estate in the late 80s and 90s and began purchasing resorts, casinos and hotels. He owned the Merv Griffin Givenchy Resort & Spa here in Palm Springs and also the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. At his death in 2007, Griffin was estimated to be worth about $1 billion.
We were lucky to have Merv Griffin as a La Quinta resident. Should you have interest in this one-of-a-kind equestrian paradise, Kimberley Kelly with HK Lane will be happy to arrange a tour and offer her rich knowledge of the equestrian world.
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Polo is fun to watch too!
Palm Springs Valley Polo Clubs. Palm Springs and La Quinta-actually all the Desert Cities are known for many different things. Golf, of course, is huge in our desert area. Warm Winters in ALL our valley cities. Fine Dining, magnificent hiking, Architectural types such as the Palm Springs modern..but there’s another special thing we are known for..the International Polo Clubs we have in our Valley.
There are two Internationally recognized Polo Clubs in the Palm Springs Valley. Both are located in the Eastern side of the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs Valley and Coachella Valley are synonymous). The City of Palm Springs is the Western side and La Quinta, Indio and Coachella are considered Eastern. The Eastern side of the Valley is much less developed and has a wonderful rural feel. There are many housing developments of course, (See La Quinta, Indio, Thermal and Vista Santa Rosa), but there is also a surreal feel to this side of our Valley.
The two polo clubs, Eldorado and Empire, occupy hundreds of acres of open land. There are approximately 20 playing fields between the two clubs, with each polo field being about the size of 9 football fields! Polo is a huge industry to the Eastern Valley bringing in approx. 1,000 horses each season, some 250 players and their families and grooms. Housing leases and sales occur along with all of our polo visitors..good for our Valley!
The Polo season starts in mid-November and goes through mid-April. Games are played Weds., through Sundays. Practices are Weds., and Thursday, with tournaments being played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The game to catch is always the 2 pm game on Sunday. This is the Featured match, complete with announcer, play areas for the kids, champagne half-time divot stomp and sometimes balloon rides! It’s quite a show, and the best thing is that games are often free or perhaps a minimum fee of $5/car for entry.
The Eldorado Polo Club
Eldorado is our older club; 2012 is it’s 55th year of play! The club is open to all, and Sunday tail-gaters are welcome.
Location: 50950 Madison St., Indio
General Information: 760-342-2223
Game Schedule: 760-342-4133
The Empire Polo Club
The Empire Polo Club is adjacent to the Eldorado Polo Club and is owned by the Haagen Family. Started in 1987, new Fields are being added on an annual basis. There are now 9 fields, and a Polo Arena with lights, for night polo games! All games are free and the schedule is the same for both clubs.
The Empire Polo club also hosts many different events. From weddings, to corporate events to sweet 16 celebrations, the club with it’s four different event sites is unique and beautiful. Perhaps the most famous event of the Empire Polo Club is the Coachella Music and Art Festival held for two weekends in April.
Location: Main entrance is on Monroe St. and 51st ave.
General Information: 760-342-2762
Game Schedule: 760-342-9111
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