Delfino Resort foreword
If San Gorgonio, San Jacinto and San Antonio all have clouds, we can have rain. Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indian saying
Delfino Resort, palm desert california, foreword >Envisioning Session >July 19th and 20th, 2007 >Indian Wells, California
To a visionary, the supernatural barrenness of the desert floor awakens possibilities unknown to other places. This is where futurist dreams are drawn. Where technology bends to the whims of sun and wind. And while the conditions for a bone-soaking downpour in the desert depend on vapors and rock, the conditions for a soul-searching envisioning session depend on the will of participants to imagine the undefined, dream the unprecedented and be awakened by fresh breezes from unexpected sources. Under these envisioning conditions, we predict a deluge of inspiration, edification and creative direction with which to begin constructing the experience of Delfino.
en-vi’-sion
To assist another to imagine something not yet in existence: to visualize the future; to picture in the mind. An Envisioning session is a two-day process that stimulates all participants to ponder the experiential potential of Delfino, to imagine what it will be like to work, live and play here, and to divine the aesthetics and experiences that will write Delfino into the history of the Coachella Valley.
fore’-word
Introductory remarks at the beginning of a document or book, usually written by someone other than the author. In this instance, a preface containing background information to be reviewed by participants and presenters in preparation for an envisioning session.
Palm Springs: An Elite Retreat At night, before it was time for the children to go to bed, some mother would tell a story‌ They would tell them stories about the sun and the moon and the stars, the air, the wind, the water, the sky, the world, and the people, and the animals and fish upon it. Francisco Patencio Stories and Legends of the Palm Springs Indians
Since the early 1880s, when John Guthrie McCallum became the first white pioneer to settle permanently in the tiny desert oasis known as Agua Caliente, the Coachella Valley has hosted a string of remarkable eras, each as colorful as the last. American history began after Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indians had been settled in the valley for thousands of years, or in their words, “since the beginning of time.” The cross-cultural understanding established between the Native people and white pioneers, so unusual for the times, can be felt today in the many Native-white civic partnerships and highly respected presence of Cahuilla culture throughout the Coachella Valley. Around 1936, the small pioneer town of Palm Springs entered its heyday. Hotels showed an 80% occupancy rate and a who’s who of Hollywood began buying estates and erecting homes that would put the area on the map socially and architecturally. Frank Sinatra’s home, designed by Stewart Williams, helped shape the modern glamour that would become synonymous with Palm Springs. Bob Hope was elected Honorary Mayor in 1958 and street names honored stars like Dinah Shore, Ginger Rogers and former president Gerald Ford, among others.
John Lautner’s ‘Elrod House,’ featured in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds are Forever, became the quintessential Palm Springs ‘party pad,’ with its signature circular living room and panoramic views. By the sixties, Palm Springs was the destination for vacationing celebrities, retired politicians, celebrity seekers and wealthy, golf-loving retirees. As Palm Springs grew in popularity, development spread east, starting with Cathedral City, then Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and the five other municipalities that populate the Coachella Valley today. By 1982, when these villages had all become small, independent cities, the glamorous aura of Palm Springs had already begun to fade. Meanwhile, like any desert plant, the rest of the valley is slowly unfurling its own identity. At the center of it all is Delfino.
Points of arrival & departure
> From the air, the landscape leading up to Palm Springs resembles
something closer to a far-flung planetary surface than the stomping grounds of some of the most important, modern-day leisure enthusiasts. Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley cities appear, miraculously, out of a sharp and sandy desert mirage. Here, on the mars-like planes of the Coachella Valley, civilization seems oblivious to its extreme environmental conditions, and not only thrives, but offers a leisure experience worthy of legend. Palm Springs International Airport (PSP), affectionately baptized ‘America’s Resort Port’ is currently one of the fastest growing airports in the country and is 15 minutes from Delfino. Servicing 14 major airlines, it offers non-stop service to 18 (mostly west coast) destinations. Due to its location along Highway 10 and close proximity to Highway 74, Delfino provides a great base camp for day and weekend trips to completely different landscapes and experiences: > Two hours to the beaches of Orange County or San Diego > Two hours to the energy and excitement of LA > One hour to the Idyllwild and Big Bear ski resorts > Half an hour up the Palm Springs Aerial Tram for hiking or cross-country skiing in winter
tHought-starter: Transportation & Community
What could energy-efficient, community transportation look like at Delfino? > As befits a golf course-riddled retirement haven, car culture in the Coachella Valley has democratized to include the
gentle golf cart. Dedicated puttering lanes run alongside major roads, just as bicycle paths do in younger cosmopolitan centers. As a true, postmodern resort village, Delfino will be a destination where cars are checked upon arrival and promptly forgotten about for the duration of any given stay, leaving the door open to innovative new means of community transportation.
delfino tenant mix This is the contradictory desire in our utopia. We want to live in a small community with which we can identify and yet we want all the facilities of the city of millions of people. We want to have very intense urban experiences and yet we want the open space right next to us. Moshe Safdie Architect
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On any given day at Delfino, tee-times at the Classic Club will be booked solid by retired golf aficionados, young professionals will be stopping for coffee in the village, vacationing grandparents will be entertaining grandkids at village fountains, golf widows will be browsing designer boutiques or food shopping at gourmet markets, students will be waiting tables part-time and hunting for internships, and scientists will be discussing projects in hushed tones over lunch at one of the many sidewalk cafĂŠs. At present, the Delfino tenant mix is as follows, and subject to further amendments:
> A Fairmont hotel by WATG
> A 350,000 to 950,000 sq ft.,
> A Business Park offering
> An additional 8.6
(designers of the Venetian in
pedestrian-friendly retail
230,000 sq ft. of Class A office
unattributed acres entitled
Las Vegas) to provide about
complex by General Growth
space, allowing up to 22,000
for 216 hospitality units
300 rooms and 125 branded
Properties Inc.
square feet per floor
> Also in the retail com-
> A Tech Center offering
plex, two separate branded
700,000 sq ft. of space to
> A small neighborhood of 56
residential projects of 150
the cream of the world’s
Fairmont Grand Villas, sold
boutique-hotel apartments
scientific crop
as one-eighth fractional units
and 400 retail residences
lining the golf course on the
and/or lofts overlooking
eastern side of the hotel
the golf course
residences in the heart of the retail complex
Market study positioning of the Delfino target audience: 40 to 65 year-old age group (75 to 85%) and affluent 30 to 40 year olds (15 to 25%). In order of volume, owners will be coming from: Orange County, Los Angeles County, Venture County (60% - 70%), Midwest USA and Northwest Canada (30% - 35%) and Other areas (10%). Our audience is seeking a resort area with amenities other than golf, near or in an urban area, with 25% of those polled wanting attached units with expanded resort amenities. A full 70% of respondents prefer a multi-cultural community with a strong urban flavor to a typical active adult community. How will Delfino cater to such a diverse clientele? Other than the golf course, what will be the biggest Delfino attraction(s)? What will be the focal point of the resort?
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Delfino golf resort, retail village and technology park > conceptual master plan
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Resort Entry Gateway Resort Entry Drive and Gardens Resort Hotel Hotel Pools and Gardens Hotel Parking Structure Resort Spa Spa Pool, Sundeck, and Treatment Garden Grand Estate Villa (75’ Ht.Max. 100 Units) Golf Villas Golf Clubhouse Practice Putting Greens Teaching and Practice Driving Range Finishing Holes Viewing Stands and Skyboxes Tournament Entry Area from Off-Site Parking
15 Luxury Golf-View Condominiums (774 Units) 16 Condominium Pool Area 17 Office 18 Retail Village Automobile Entry Plaza 19 Retail Village Shopping Promenade 20 Village Grand Plaza 21 Timeshare 22 25 Acre Retail Parcel 23 Ceremonial Entry with Theme Bridge 24 10 Acre I.P. Parcel with 75’Ht. Limit 25 29.5 Acre I.P. Parcel with 75’Ht. Limit 26 Golf Maintenance Facility 27 Drainage Swale 28 2 Acre Village Apartment Parcel
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Chief Envisioning Considerations This is the business of beauty. Every business should be completely concerned with beauty – it is after all a collective human need. Karim Rashid Karimanifesto
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Delfino is already in the advanced stages of planning and development. The PGA Bob Hope Chrysler Classic golf course is in place and preparing to host the January 2008 tournament (the only charity-owned course for a PGA event). The Clubhouse, future offices of the Berger Foundation, is nearing completion. The Delfino brand name has been trademarked and is slowly beginning to generate buzz. The challenge now is to envision Delfino’s total experiential potential; what sets Delfino apart within the Coachella Valley, all the while embracing the greater valley community in a way that uplifts both.
Over the course of two short days in July, we will seek to meet these four objectives:
Position Delfino as the epicenter of the Coachella Valley.
>What will draw people to Delfino with the same thirst for the new and exceptional that drew the first desert pioneers to the valley floor?
2 3 4 Determine how to engage the greater desert community in a way no other valley development has done before.
Determine meaningful points of interaction between Delfino’s varied tenant mix and its closest neighbors.
Develop an environmental story the original stewards of the land can point to with pride.
>How can Delfino’s partners (the Berger Foundation, Bob Hope Classic, Fairmont Hotels, etc.) synchronistically contribute to a renaissance in the Coachella Valley?
>How does everyone who interacts with Delfino live with a clear and meaningful relationship to this place?
>In our mapping of Delfino, strive in every respect to be as “green” as possible.
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Defining A New Desert Genre neighborhoods should be diverse in use and population; communities should be designed for the pedestrian in transit as well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; urban places should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice. Charter of the New Urbanism Congress for the New Urbanism, founded in 1993
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There are country clubs, golf resorts, golf communities, resort communities, active adult communities and RV communities across the Coachella Valley. Delfino will be none of these. Master planned as an urban resort, it is designed to be both engaging and cosmopolitan. Its modest 434 acres off Highway 10 in Palm Desert will contain a retail environment, business park, tech center and every resort amenity. Both destination and community, Delfino promises to be a self-contained, residential leisure land akin to an Intrawest resort village. However, unlike Intrawest, Delfino is pioneering a new luxury village experience specific to the desert landscape of the Coachella Valley and the unique needs of its evolving culture. Delfino seems poised to fall into the ‘Urban Entertainment Destination’ category, just shy of ‘New Urbanism.’ The term UED emerged in the 1970s, when many developers were looking to attract people back to the downtown core of major urban centers. UEDs include everything from festival markets and Hard Rock Cafés, to Disneyland and Las Vegas casinos. They are essentially themed environments that highlight eating and entertainment, the whole experience unified through an historic or architectural theme. New Urbanism is an American urban design movement that arose in the 1980s, with a goal to reform
all aspects of real estate development by focusing on traditional neighborhood design. Among other things, new urbanist designs provide a range of housing options and jobs, a village center and walkable master plan. They are often self-sufficient and ecologically well integrated into their surroundings. While Delfino will not be a self-sufficient city, it will feel like one. Those who own here will find all their basic recreational needs within its walls – an anomaly in the valley, where most gated communities rely on external retail and amenity destinations. We have been referring to Delfino as an ‘urban resort'. As the nature of Delfino becomes clearer, opportunities to position Delfino as the center of the Coachella Valley – a place from which many things ebb and flow – are emerging from the partnerships that have made this project possible. Opportunities to engage the greater valley community through education and art, architecture and sense of place, science and leisure, all in the same spirit of charity, caring and forethought that characterize Delfino’s biggest backers (the Berger Foundation and Dick Oliphant), open the door to a new genre of desert development.
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Desert Sports Palm Springs is the winter golf capital of the world. You have to shoot par to get a room down here. And it’s on account of the weather. It’s always so great. The Palm Springs weatherman is a recording. It’s also one of the healthiest places in the world. And they keep it that way. Last year a tourist sneezed and they shot him as a spy from Florida. Bob Hope Honorary Mayor of Palm Springs
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Palm Springs was once known as the Golf Capital of the World, though the title was quickly transferred to the entire valley. Today, there are more than 120 golf courses in the Coachella Valley, while fewer than a dozen are actually in Palm Springs. The first Bob Hope Classic, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country, was played in 1960 at Thunderbird, Tamarisk and Indian Wells courses. Arnold Palmer was the first winner, taking home $12,000 in prize money. Today, Delfino carries on the tradition with the Classic Club, home to the new PGA Bob Hope Chrysler Classic course, bearing Arnold Palmer’s signature as Master Designer. With 33 acres of lakes supplied with recycled water, the Classic Club is one of the greenest and bluest courses in the valley. The Classic Club course was donated to the Bob Hope Foundation by the Berger Foundation, and it is anticipated that the Clubhouse, with the exception of the Berger Foundation offices, will also be conveyed to the Bob Hope Foundation upon completion.
Close to four million yards of dirt were shifted to create the course’s undulating terrain, and property dykes were put in place for what the valley refers to as the ‘500-year flood control.’ The course’s spectacular view of the mountains will exist in perpetuity, as the 16,000 acres of open space between the course limits and the range is a designated preserve for the fringe-toed lizard. The landscaping of the course was also planned with the lizard habitat in mind, with only low pines and horizontally growing plants to deny predatory birds prime vantage points from which to hunt the fringe-toed. Ground cover is made from recycled palm tree fiber rather than pine, to avoid drying and potential fire hazards. Tennis began to grow in popularity in the US in the 1970s. The Davis Cup tournament was played at the Palm Springs Racquet Club, and the city had courts at Ruth Hardy Park and a tennis center on Baristo. For a while, tennis almost equaled golf in popularity. Acting as an official sponsor of the Pacific Life Open tournament held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is one way Delfino plans to contribute to community life in the valley. The Open is the fifth largest tennis tournament in the world, on par with Wimbledon, the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open as a joint ATP Master Series and 19 WTA Tour tournament.
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thought-starter: eight stories high
What will this new desert skyline look like? > Recently amended construction plans for the Coachella Valley have given the green light to buildings of multiple
stories – something never before seen in the desert. Delfino will be the first development to build according to this amendment, awarding it the opportunity to create what will essentially be the Coachella Valley’s first urban desert skyline. This also means Delfino will be the first resort to offer private homes with balconies and views of the valley. The incredible visibility offered by its location alongside Highway 10 offers a golden opportunity to present the Coachella Valley with a skyline representative of the valley’s impending renaissance.
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Valley Visionaries I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. George Bernard Shaw
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Dick Oliphant Universally, people in the Coachella Valley involved in community development or civic affairs both know of Dick Oliphant and hold him and his wife Jan in the highest esteem. Dick and Jan have lived in the Palm Springs area for over 45 years. They raised their five children here, and along the way, have given back to the valley as much as they have received. A master developer, Dick orchestrated the construction of Palm City, the valley’s first retirement community. Since then, he has made significant contributions to the planning and development of countless resort communities, business parks, civic, medical and educational centers across the Coachella Valley, not to mention the latest and grandest sporting addition, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, host to the Pacific Life Open. Dick served on the Planning Commission for Indian Wells, and acted as Councilman, Vice Mayor and Mayor for eight years. One of Dick’s biggest dreams was to bring higher learning to the Coachella Valley, which, with the help of the Berger Foundation, he did.
Michael Mabugat As manager and general partner for Delfino at Palm Desert, Michael brings a strong corporate finance background and a real desire to build a lasting, quality legacy to the Coachella Valley. Following a slew of senior executive management positions with several Fortune 1000 corporations, Michael chose to focus on land development projects. The Delfino Resort brand currently has two Delfino precursors along Gulf shores in the Southeast. Ron Auen & the Berger Foundation The Berger Foundation was established in 1961 by Nor and Frances Berger. Today, under the guidance of President Ron Auen, it protects and perpetuates Nor and Fran’s legacy of “Helping others to help themselves,” by funding educational and medical research centers, colleges, high schools and hospitals in the valley. For Ron, involvement with Delfino is a direct way to contribute to the overall improvement of the Coachella Valley.
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thought-starter: education alley: the cook street corridor
As a significant presence along the Cook Street education corridor, how might Delfino play a role within the valley’s most important learning environment? > Two award-winning buildings and a sculpture garden currently serve the San Bernardino campus of California State
University, across Highway 10 from Delfino. Two more buildings are in the works. Opposite the university on Cook Street, there are the beginnings of a small village complex containing casual dining, retail and other services to serve the 10- to 30-thousand students expected over the coming years. The university and Xavier High School, less than a mile north of Highway 10, are the beginnings of what the Berger Foundation envisions as the educational strip in the valley.
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Agenda THURSDAY JULY 19TH 8:00am Breakfast in the Piazza 8:50 Welcome Address, Dick Oliphant 9:00 Envisioning Welcome, David Gouthro 10:00 Delfino Presentation: Project Status, Guy Gniadek 10:30 Envisioning Objectives and Process, Ashley Willard 10:45 Break 11:00 Site Tour 1:00pm Lunch 2:00 An Afternoon of Presentations and Explorations 4:00 Break 4:15 Presentations Continue 5:15 Session Ends 6:15 Depart for Reception 7:15 Dinner 9:00 Evening Concludes
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participants
friday JULY 20th 8:00am Breakfast 9:00 Opening Remarks 9:30 Review of Homework Question 10:00 Envisioning Begins 10:30 Break 10:45 Envisioning Continues 12:00pm Lunch 1:00 Envisioning Resumes 3:00 Break 3:15 Envisioning Continues 5:00 Envisioning Session Concludes
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The Delfino Envisioning participants were carefully chosen to bring a range of relevant perspectives to this particular type of development. Experts in fields ranging from contemporary design to future trends, sustainability to luxury hotels, are here to ensure that every possible dimension of Delfino is properly explored, considered and planned for.
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Julie He managing partner, hs funding group As the Managing Partner at HS Funding Group for Private Investment, Julie works with many oversees clients, where her fluent Chinese is a tremendous asset. Previously, she worked for several years in acquisitions at a Real Estate Investment Trust Firm in San Francisco. Julie graduated with a business degree from University of the Pacific. She is a proud mother of a boy and a girl.
Guy Gniadek senior vice president, desert gold ventures llc.
Kris Hansen Senior Associate, EDSA
Guy has spent a significant portion of his professional career shaping the award-winning, pedestrian-oriented Ahmanson Ranch – one of the best examples of “smart growth” in California. Educated at Purdue University and the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC), his 20 years of experience in community design and architecture has been recognized by five state and national planning and design awards. His work consists of numerous large-scale mixed-use master plans in California and beyond.
Kris has over 20 years of experience in the landscape architectural field with an emphasis in design and planning. Prior to joining EDSA, he worked as a senior designer for Sasaki Associates in Los Angeles and EDAW in Irvine, specializing in resort and hotel landscape design, residential estate planning and theme park development. He was also a project designer for Myrick, Newman and Dahlberg in Dallas.
Michael Mabugat Manager and General partner, Desert Gold Ventures LLC. (see page 23) Michael is a motivated leader and achiever who has a gift for leading multiple high value merger and land development projects from concept through implementation. During the past seven years, Michael has focused his skills on land development projects, several of which have been Delfino projects. His working history includes extensive business/project management experience in a large range of sophisticated technical and business environments.
Jim Keller Art Director, Envisioning + Storytelling
Robbie Mabugat Project Manager, Desert Gold Ventures LLC.
NY bred Jim Keller has over 20 years experience in advertising, branding and publishing. He has created and directed a wealth of strategic and successful campaigns for some of North America’s top clients and agencies. His strong passion for photography, film, and music is evident in his creative approaches. He is an avid musician, outdoorsman and pop culture fanatic.
Robbie’s proficiency as a technical analyst, desktop support engineer, and principal support specialist is matched only by his business acumen. A former analyst for IBM Consulting, he was also responsible for business development and management of the company’s strategic partnerships. Additionally, in this role he developed, designed and implemented an e-business strategy for migrating core products to a web-based product delivery. Robbie also holds a degree in marketing.
Teresa Mabugat Chief Financial Officer, Desert Gold Ventures LLC. Teresa was the Vice President of Information Systems at Prime Matrix for 10 years. She then worked for Sony Studios for over three years as the Director for Information Systems for Customer Service before coming to Desert Gold Ventures to be the Chief Financial Officer. In her spare time she is an avid equestrian, owning five horses, and helps rescue dogs.
Richard Oliphant President and founder, Oliphant Enterprises (see page 23) Dick is a leader in the construction and development business, having received recognition from the Desert Contractor’s Association, the Building Institute of America, and ArchitectBuilder Magazine. His diverse developments have unfolded largely in California and include several golf-centered retirement communities, business parks, banks, office buildings, medical centers, a 10-screen movie theatre, and stadiums and surrounding improvements. A huge contributor to economic development, Dick sits on countless Boards. Dick and his wife Jan, married for over 50 years, have five grown children and seven grandchildren.
Ted Mahl Principal, dga planning
Robert Payan Vice President, Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo
Jody Turner Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Culture of Future, Inc.
A graduate of Yale and Kent State Universities, in Ted’s twenty plus years of design experience his name has appeared on innumerable awards and publications. He has been the lead master planner and designer for over 8,000,000 square feet of low-to high-rise buildings and corporate campuses for both end-users and developers. His portfolio includes high-profile projects for Altera, Juniper Networks, Shorenstein and Yahoo! Ted sits on the Design Juries for the University of California, Berkley, the California College of Arts and Crafts, and the Stanford University Program of Industrial Design.
A graduate in architecture from the University of Southern California, Robert joined WATG in 1988. Since then he has served as lead designer on many of the firm’s most notable luxury hotel, resort and residential projects, both foreign and domestic. His background also includes directing several new and renovated casino and hotel projects for Ameristar in Nevada, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi and Colorado. Recent efforts include the Masquerade at Harrah’s New Orleans, Louisiana; the NorthStar Resort at Palm Desert; and renovation and expansion for the Miraval Life in Balance Spa in Tucson, Arizona.
Jody is a human trend and culture consultant based in Los Angeles. Jody’s history includes 25 years in design working with power brands like Nike and Starbucks, as well as in the high-end retail design industry in New York and San Francisco. As Primary Consultant with Culture of Future, Jody provides inspirational POV and leading-edge trends encompassing tech to retail, generations to culture and design to business. She is a premier connector of inspirational people and information.
Eric Malcolmson Vice President Development, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Inc.
Karim Rashid founder and Designer, Karim Rashid Inc.
In the role of Vice President, Development at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Eric focuses on brand growth in North America. He began his career as an associate with Colliers International Hotel Realty. Four years later he joined PriceWaterhouse Coopers LLP as Associate, Real Estate Advisory Services. Eric joined Fairmont in 2002 as Director, Real Estate Development group and was promoted to his most recent position as Executive Director, Development in January 2006. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program from Ryerson University.
Born in Cairo, raised in Canada and now working out of New York, Karim is best known for bringing his democratic design sensibility to clients from Alessi to Georg Jensen, Umbra to Prada, Miyake to Method, radically changing the aesthetics of product design in the process. To date he has had some 2,000 objects put into production and successfully entered the realm of architecture and interiors. Karim has two Honorary Doctorates, his work is in permanent collections at 14 museums worldwide, including MoMA, and he has authored several books, most recently “Design Your Self.”
Francis Wong Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Genesis Hotel Development, LLC. Francis’s experience in law, real estate development, and state and federal government have earned him places in The Titans, Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who in Hawaii and Who’s Who in Politics. With Genesis he is involved in numerous large-scale mixed-use projects in California and beyond, including the development of the hospitality components of Delfino resort at Palm Desert. He is a member of countless boards, clubs and associations, many located in Palm Desert and Indian Wells.
Robert Barrs Principal, Holland Barrs Planning Group
Danielle Dyson Project Manager, Desert Gold Ventures LLC.
Rob is co-founder & principal of HBPG. He is a LEEDŽ accredited planner, a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners, and holds multiple degrees. Rob’s passion is to create highly livable, sustainable urban places, working closely with development teams, municipalities and NGOs to identify practical, implementable solutions to urban challenges. Amongst other topics, he has written on high performance buildings, tax strategies for greening municipalities, and environmental stewardship.
Danielle is a Project Manager with Praetorian Development and Acquisitions. She has worked for two private design firms in Los Angeles and has also lent her expertise to Shabby Chic and Waterworks. She also established and managed her own gym. She holds a BA in Fine Arts (Interior Arch.)
E+S Team The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Alan Kay
Brian Brown, Senior Land Planner, Western Regional Office, BSB Design
Dennis French Chairman, Equity Directions, Inc.
With over nine years of experience in landscape design and construction, Brian has worked in both the design/build and professional services sides of development. He has experience designing and managing an array of diverse residential and commercial projects throughout Arizona, California and Nevada. As an integral part of BSB Design’s land planning and landscape architecture team, he has developed a knack for project coordination between municipal entities, developers, builders and designers. His personal attention to all stages of the project, coupled with his extensive background in landscape design and development, including bidding, contract writing, sales and design, bring a unique perspective to any team.
As President and Chairman of the Board of Equity Directions, Inc., Dennis has specialized in the development and management of real estate investments, real estate brokerage, property management, investment consulting, and land banking activities. As developer/builder, Dennis has been involved in over 1,000,000 square feet of real estate construction, valued at over $100 Million. He is a dedicated golfer, Southern Californian (born and raised), husband and father to two children with whom he lives in Indian Wells.
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Elizabeth Adams Strategic Storyteller
David Gouthro Facilitator
Since obtaining her Bachelor of Arts in communications and Master of Arts in media studies from Concordia University in Montreal, Elizabeth has been instrumental in helping luxury community developers from Intrawest to individuals articulate and communicate their vision of the good life to the world at large.
Drawing on 20 years of experience – working in a wide range of organizations on three continents – enables David to provoke leaders to question, challenge and change the way they work. Two years as a Performance Consultant with Wilson Learning and six years at Apple Canada led him to incorporate The Consulting Edge: Movers & Shakers, Inc. in 1988. Since then he has been helping people in organizations change they way they lead, manage, think, create and collaborate in support of achieving personal and organizational success.
Rose Bhura Envisioning Producer
Ashley Willard Vice President, Real Estate
Prior to joining E+S, Rose headed up the media divisions of two multimedia companies specializing in health and wellness. She has worked with some of the top luminaries in that field, including Deepak Chopra, for whom she co-created and produced his most recent DVD. An avid reader and gourmand, Rose is passionate about her volunteer work with the Aga Khan Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on longterm, sustainable projects for women, children and villages in developing countries.
World-wise and street-smart beyond her years, Ashley comes to E+S after six years immersed in business, sales and marketing strategy for Intrawest. Now on the side of the storytellers, this Torontonian turned Vancouverite will massage the balance of magic and logic in E+S storytelling tools, and set a new standard for client happiness among the company’s worldwide clientele.
Jake Chalmers Chief Executive Officer Jake joined E+S in 1995 and is now responsible for the dayto-day governance of the company and for charting its future direction. Jake’s primary goal at E+S is to develop a culture where people are hardwired to think creatively and strategically at all times, where people constantly think and re-think ways to tell exceptionally relevant stories for our clients – stories that rouse the spirit, but that also guide organizations, teams and projects through challenging tactical waters.
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about E+S
>Envisioning + Storytelling, based in West Vancouver, British Columbia, assists clients around the
world in creating foundational, transformational and brand stories that empower teams of decision-makers to achieve shared goals. Ours is a world in which teamwork and consultation outclass hierarchy and control by using ‘story’ to build consensus, provide clarity and identify the champions who will realize the team’s shared vision. There is no more effective way to create a unified identity than through a well-crafted, well-told story – one that addresses the past, present and future – the logic and the magic. A Storyline brings everyone together and empowers a team to see and feel what truly differentiates them. It becomes a literary companion to their business plan. E+S crafts this story using your ideas and insights, your ‘aha’ moments and your flashes of inspiration. So roll up the sleeves of your imagination, turn off your PDAs and other electronic multi-taskers, and think with us in fresh ways.
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Delfino Resort foreword
If San Gorgonio, San Jacinto and San Antonio all have clouds, we can have rain. Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indian saying
Delfino Resort, palm desert california, foreword >Envisioning Session >July 19th and 20th, 2007 >Indian Wells, California