New High-End Disney Residential Development ‘Isn’t a Theme Park,’ Execs Insist

You can visit Disney parks and hotels, book a Disney Cruise, find Disney stores packed with Mouse merch, collect Disney pins, buy vintage animated character figurines on eBay, enroll in professional Disney hospitality training and even munch on Disney-branded produce — a recent visit to Costco in Burbank discovered bags of Disney brand organic Gala apples that appeared to be, well, apples.

Now you can live Disney all the time. Walt Disney Co., along with partner DMB Development, is expanding the brand to Cotino, the first of a collection of planned communities under the Disney Storyliving trademark, tapping the design team at the company’s Walt Disney Imagineering division. Plans for another Storyliving community in North Carolina, called Asteria, were announced in 2023.

Cotino’s luxury homes, ranging from $1.2 to $2.6 million and located in Rancho Mirage in the Palm Springs area, represent the first Storyliving community with move-ins expected in the early part of 2025. Developers are banking on the hope that a little Disney magic — and such amenities as an 24-acre artificial lagoon (described as ecologically controversial in a recent Los Angeles Times story) complete with a sandy beach — will draw residents to the community.

What is billed as the first-ever Disney-branded housing development isn’t, quite. In 1996 the first residents moved into Celebration, Florida, introduced by the real estate development division of The Walt Disney Co. and located in Osceola, north of Miami and South of Orlando. While that development had the advantage of being near Disney’s Florida theme parks and maintains a population of nearly 13,000, it never received much in the way of critical acclaim. Disney sold the property in 2004.

Contino homes went on sale in early 2024 and a Disney spokesperson did not provide figures for units sold to date, calling sales at an “early stage” and citing the fact that construction of some community facilities is still underway.

Amy Young, creative director, Imagineering, is quick to say that Disney influence at Cotino is different from the obvious movie-inspired rides and attractions at Disneyland. “This isn’t a theme park,” Young told TheWrap.

The mid-century modern homes and community buildings, she said, reflect the signature look of Palm Springs and its environs. However, she adds that the look is also in keeping with Walt Disney’s personal affinity for mid-century design and architecture (Walt also owned homes in the Palm Springs area). Disneyland opened in 1955 and some of its earliest attractions, including Tomorrowland (opened in 1967), reflect the clean lines and futuristic flair of the Space Age.

That being said, the developers concede that there will be more opportunities for direct nods to Disney entertainment content that, say, a Disney apple might provide. The Parr House clubhouse is a multifunction space inspired by the home of the superhero family in the movie “Incredibles 2,” which was in turn inspired by famous midcentury homes in Palm Springs and elsewhere.

Said Disney in an email to TheWrap: “Disney’s role is focused in four areas: Walt Disney Imagineers are contributing the creative vision for each community; Disney Cast Members will deliver the signature service and attention that are Disney hallmarks. Disney will offer the option of progamming, entertainment and activities through club membership; and the Disney team will manage marketing and sales efforts.” Young confirmed that club membership will be optional for residents.

Young declined to say how Disney “cast members,” its term for its employees, might service the club, saying that’s still being decided.

Much the way Disney animators spent time in Kenya to research the landscape and animals for the 1994 movie “The Lion King,” Young said about 12 Imagineers hung out in the desert to get in tune with the atmosphere.

” I think we did 75 paintings in two days, the 12 of us, and those paintings were anything from birds to …the mountains,” Young said. “We did the paintings at specific times of day when, especially in the early morning, you get that beautiful pink and purple sun hitting the mountains. A lot of the Imagineers, we don’t get a lot of time to have that moment to just kind of breathe and take in some plein air painting.”

President and Chief Executive Officer of DMB Development Brent Herrington told TheWrap that Disney approached his company before the pandemic about collaborating on the project. He called working with Disney a “thrill ride” and said he believes Disney’s s detailed approach went beyond a “superficial cartoon” about life in the desert.

And does the Disney brand matter to potential buyers? “Emphatically yes,” Herrington said. “People are aspirational about leaving where they currently reside and moving to a new place, or even buying a second home…it’s more than ‘I’d love to find a house on a street, and move to that home.’ “

Added Herrington, “The Disney organization brings to the table the ability to serve up a very rich lifestyle. I can’t think of any other organization, certainly in the real estate industry but anywhere, that can do what Disney can do.”

Jay Tucker, a technology leader at UCLA’s Center for Management of Enterprise in Media, Entertainment and Sports, told TheWrap that Hollywood’s entertainment companies also have the option of creating self-branded properties, but Disney stands out as unique because the company is the brand.

“Universal did (the movie) ‘Mamma Mia,’ right?” Tucker mused. “So they could theoretically set up a vacation resort in the Greek islands. But the brand wouldn’t be Universal, the brand would be ‘Mamma Mia.’ … Disney is the only studio, I think, with the brand recognition for something to be branded Disney and people come and feel like they know what it is or what they should expect.”

Added Tucker, “People, when they think Disney, they think family, but they also think kind of meticulously intentional… you go to Target and buy a Goofy T-shirt, and even the Goofy T-shirt is high quality materials, it’s not going to fall apart. it looks nice. The bigger manifestations of that are the parks and cruises and stuff, where they have total control over the environment. It has that value.”

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