Storyliving by Disney is a business venture and brand of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

announced on February 16, 2022, to collaboratively develop

master-planned A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

communities that utilize Disney Imagineering and are staffed by Disney cast members. It operates under the company's Disney Living Development, Inc. subsidiary. Cotino, in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal (part-time) population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973 and located ...

, is the first Storyliving by Disney community under development with other locations being explored.

Cotino

Cotino, in Southern California's

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...

, in the city of Rancho Mirage, is the first Storyliving by Disney community under development. It is adjacent to, and on land once owned by, the

Annenberg Annenberg may refer to: * Annenberg (surname) * The Annenberg Foundation, formerly Annenberg/CPB, known for funding educational television and the Annenberg Channel * The USC Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern Calif ...

Sunnylands Estate. Developed in collaboration with ''DMB Development LLC'' of

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

, Cotino will be a

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

with several residential options, hotels, resort facilities, and a retail center, all surrounding a grand oasis and lagoon. The community's name, Cotino, was derived from

Cotinus ''Cotinus'' (''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607), the smoketree or smoke bush, is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs (''Rhus''). Characteristics They are large s ...

, the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

name of a plant commonly referred to as the Smoketree. It was chosen in recognition of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, who maintained a home in the Smoke Tree Ranch in nearby

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

. Smoke Tree Ranch was one of Disney's favorite locations to relax. So loved by Disney, the Ranch's stylized STR emblem was included on Walt's tie on the 1993 Walt Disney and

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

statue, '' Partners''. Groundbreaking for the project was held on April 23, 2022. The first tract map was tentatively approved by the Rancho Mirage Planning Commission on July 14, 2022, despite opposition by some Coachella Valley residents who cited the ongoing megadrought as a reason to revisit the

environmental impact Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

of the project before allowing the developer to proceed. Home sales are expected to begin in early 2023 with the first homes completed in early 2024.

Section 31

The Cotino development includes most of US land survey Section 31 in the city of Rancho Mirage. Investors had previously purchased the land from the Annenberg estate in 1977, and in 1993 The Eagle Specific Plan had been approved for development, but never started. After some ownership changes, and at least two bankruptcies brought on by the

financial crisis of 2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, Section 31 did not become available again until 2016. In 2017 a portion of the land, separated from the rest of Section 31 by Monterey Boulevard, was sold to the Tower Energy Group. The remainder of Section 31 was purchased in 2018 for $75 million by EC Rancho Mirage Holdings Limited Partnership, a Canadian firm organized in the state of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. EC Rancho Mirage brought in DMB Development LLC to help design a new plan for the site, initially called the Section 31 Specific Plan or Section 31 Project. When Disney was brought in to apply their expertise and brand, the Section 31 Project became Cotino.

References

External links

Official brand website: Storyliving by DisneyDMB Development, LLC; Cotino
{{authority control New Urbanism communities Planned communities in the United States The Walt Disney Company Real estate companies of the United States 2022 establishments in California

Cotino

Section 31

See also

References

External links